05.19.11

Anything to keep the war-footing going

Posted in Made in China at 2:47 pm by George Smith

Reader C sends in an item, another Associated Press piece concerning the popular meme of Chinese military modernization. AND WHAT WE MUST/WILL DO TO COUNTER IT.

The US already spends more than ten times what the Chinese do in this area. And China’s military, partly as a result, is anywhere from ten to twenty years behind us in capability.

While we have forfeited all domestic non-military manufacturing to that country — with Wall Street and big American multi-national business leading the push, such is not the case with protected arms manufacturing.

Which only makes this Associated Press story and the people in it seem more wicked and insane:

The U.S. is developing aircraft carrier-based drones that could provide a crucial edge as it tries to counter China’s military rise.

American officials have been tightlipped about where the unmanned armed planes might be used, but a top Navy officer has told The Associated Press that some would likely be deployed in Asia …

“Chinese military modernization is the major long-term threat that the U.S. must prepare for in the Asia-Pacific region, and robotic vehicles — aerial and subsurface — are increasingly critical to countering that potential threat,” said Patrick Cronin, a senior analyst with the Washington-based Center for New American Security …

The DF 21D “carrier killer” missile is designed for launch from land with enough accuracy to hit a moving aircraft carrier at a distance of more than 900 miles (1,500 kilometers). Though still unproven — and some analysts say overrated — no other country has such a weapon…

Northrop Grumman has a six-year, $635.8 million contract to develop two of the planes, with more acquisitions expected if they work. A prototype of its X-47B took a maiden 29-minute flight in February at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Initial testing on carriers is planned for 2013.

Other makers including Boeing and Lockheed are also in the game. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. — the maker of the Predator drones used in the Afghan war — carried out wind tunnel tests in February. Spokeswoman Kimberly Kasitz said it was too early to divulge further details.

The news agency produced one, that’s one, China expert to be the skeptic. The man mentioned he doubted China would attack a US aircraft carrier and start a war, for very obvious reasons.

It would screw-up trade and lose their biggest buyer. The trade imbalance would drop to zero and economic calamity would envelop the working class in both countries.

I’ve written about this off and on — mostly the absurdity of it.

In 2011 you can put stuff up at national security information/think tanks, as I did here at GlobalSecurity.Org, and it does no good at all.

There is no serious argument other than cosmetic nibbling around the edges on whether or not military contractors and the Pentagon need
to be reigned in. The total absence of reasonable thinking, replaced by just more sales pitches, fearmongering and arms development, has become so overwhelming that such discussions have been effectively outlawed.

It’s laughable.

Here’s part of what I wrote:

[After the war starts the] middle class sees all US stores run out of stock of sundries. Wal-Mart, Target (and every giant box store like them), BestBiuy, all hardware stores, all consumer electronic stores, Bed/Bath & Beyond, sporting goods shops — all crash and go bankrupt. Salvation Army outlets become the sole garment distribution centers for the entire country …

Unemployment becomes massive and all-encompassing; a new recession to make the Great Recession look small ensues. People watch video of our bombers methodically destroying China’s military for a month. In fact, the military is the only place where employment is stable. After two months, television watching stops too as cable is disconnected for non-payment.

In the next election, every incumbent — from top to bottom — is voted out of office.

[Of course, faced with loss of its major buyer massive unemployment spreads to China, destabilizing that country. Just while the muscle-bound US military destroys every scrap of that nation’s hardware. A new world Dark Age is ushered in.]

In e-mail, reader C commented acerbically:

It seems that the shiny heads at the Pentagon have figured out a way to keep military spending going–by re-inventing the Cold War …

An unmanned fleet of stealth bombers? I shudder to think of the ramifications. Besides, China probably has the technology already, but not the will.

I can see a future with these weapons-by-proxy where *all* casualties of war are civilian.

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