The United States must reshape the military to incorporate low cost, high volume capabilities that enable greater endurance on a fluid twenty-first-century battlefield. Soon, the United States will face peer or near-peer competitors able to challenge the nation across all domains. The future is uncertain, and war is not inevitable, but at some point, the military may be called on to face a capable and determined peer adversary. When that time comes, the contest will test the nation's wherewithal in all areas. Prevailing will require a highly lethal, resilient, force using advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and computing science to endure from the first shot to the last. The race for military endurance and dominance in these emerging fields is a race the United States must win.
I'm not sure about all of those solutions to the problem, but the problem is real.
I'll note that in World War I, everyone thought the war would be over in months. But the war dragged on. Until factories and training camps could be geared up, old weapons and ammunition were used; weapons were fired less; and less-trained troops were sent into combat.
We have an additional problem of not having the ability to build new high tech weapons to replace losses.
So we'd have to build simpler weapons to supplement the really good stuff in a high-low mix.
Because face it, if a war isn't won, it won't end just because men and weapons are running out.
On the bright side, I'd bet our potential foes are in even worse shape than we are. So if we can solve this problem we'll eventually prevail as they start hauling out old weapons and ammunition, shooting less, and sending less-trained troops to fight us.
