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Tomboy said:

Thrust output does not equates to electrical generation, next generation engines are expected to output much more electrical capacity than last generation engines of similar thrust and size.

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There's talk about electricity generation being 1GW for next-gen airplanes.

That's minor considering the available output of multiple engines

4Tran said:

I think it's perfectly reasonable to blame the American branches for how things have played out. Most of the problems in the military come from corruption and the encouragement of bad practices. Look at the Navy's inability to design any new ships; you can blame the American government all you want, but at the end of the day, it's the fault of the admirals in charge of the designs.

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The American system has problems, but those problems do not make up the Big Problem in dealing with China. The big problem for the United States in dealing with China... is China.

Internal improvements and reforms are clearly worthy goals, but they don't change the underlying picture. The Littoral Combat Ship may be a punchline, but the hypothetical alternative of a well-conceived and well-executed frigate program doesn't do much to move the needle either. In the evolving balance of power between the United States and China, the pivot point lies well west of Hawaii. It's China that has changed in recent decades, China that is changing today, and China that has the greater capacity for future change, at least in the medium-term. What is or isn't happening in the United States is important, but it is decidedly secondary to what is or isn't happening in China.

Of course, there is always the dream of obtaining technological advantages that both (a) translate to a decisive edge in national capabilities and (b) cannot be replicated by the adversary within a reasonable timeframe or at scale (see: VLO), but the prospects for such things are limited and diminishing.

gelgoog said:

Yeah the B-21 is just a cost reduced B-2. It is like 20 years late.

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The success or otherwise of the B-21 Raider will be determined by production numbers. It's not about the unprecedented capabilities of the individual aircraft, but the aggregate capability embodied in the envisioned future inventory.

Lethe said:

The American system has problems, but those problems do not make up the Big Problem in dealing with China. The big problem for the United States in dealing with China... is China.

Internal improvements and reforms are clearly worthy goals, but they don't change the underlying picture. The Littoral Combat Ship may be a punchline, but the hypothetical alternative of a well-conceived and well-executed frigate program doesn't do much to move the needle either. In the evolving balance of power between the United States and China, the pivot point lies well west of Hawaii. It's China that has changed in recent decades, China that is changing today, and China that has the greater capacity for future change, at least in the medium-term. What is or isn't happening in the United States is important, but it is decidedly secondary to what is or isn't happening in China.

Of course, there is always the dream of obtaining technological advantages that both (a) translate to a decisive edge in national capabilities and (b) cannot be replicated by the adversary within a reasonable timeframe or at scale (see: VLO), but the prospects for such things are limited and diminishing.

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And this Chinese advantage wouldn't even exist if the US didn't insist on trying to fight a war in the Western Pacific where they're at a huge disadvantage! If the fight were to take some place else like the Eastern Pacific or the Indian Ocean then the advantage would flip.

I think that this is part and parcel of the curse: if China was more belligerent or if there was any other country capable of putting up a credible threat there would be impetus at the Pentagon to start identifying problems and fixing them. But as neither is the case, all the command officers are going to make sure to not rock the boat and let some else deal with the mess. Simultaneously, everyone out there can tell that the entire American military system has deep underlying problems so it just makes them look bad.