The Future of Warfare: Small, Many, Smart vs. Few & Exquisite? - War on the Rocks

In the 1970s, faced with the USSR's overwhelming superiority in numbers, the Department of Defense decided to compensate by focusing on high technology platforms. This led to the highly successful F-15, F-16, F-18, Abrams tanks, and Bradley fighting vehicles. Since then, the United States has continued to pursue cutting edge technology that has resulted in the highly capable F-22 and, when the testing and software development is complete, perhaps a highly capable F-35. Unfortunately, cost has accelerated faster than capabilities. And thus numbers have declined precipitously. The U.S. Air Force initially planned to buy 750 F-22s, but the high cost led Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to cap the program at 187. Nor has the Air Force been alone in pursuing top end systems. The Navy attempted an entirely new concept with "Streetfighter." Meant to be a low-cost, highly capable ship to replace the Navy's frigates and minesweepers for operations in brown water, it evolved into the Littoral Combat Ship.