The Technological Fix: Weapons and the Cost of War.

Abstract

The author argues that the problems facing the Army as it transitions into Force XXI during a time of constrained budgets are not new. The idea that technology can be leveraged to make up for shortfalls in numbers--troops, weapons, or dollars--is appealing. The author uses three case studies drawn from the past to demonstrate how technology has been used in one way or another to the advantage of one side or to lessen the impact of the opponent's technology. However, technological solutions tend to generate forces that are difficult to reverse or redirect, and there is always the danger of pursuing a technological dead end; the supersonic transport, the "atomic', airplane, and transparent steel being among the most notable recent examples.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 06, 1995
Accession Number
ADA297912

Entities

People

  • Alex Roland

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cold War
  • Commerce
  • Economic Warfare
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • International Relations
  • Military Organizations
  • Money
  • National Security
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Security
  • Submarine Warfare
  • Undersea Warfare
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Economics
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics