Over and over again the thing that wins is "good-enough" tech in overwhelming numbers and operated with sharp tactics. I get the feeling that the braintrust in the military saw too many "German secret weapon" movies.

History tends to follow that pattern, yes. The problem for the US during the cold war was that our foes where going to outnumber us by a good margin. The US was never going to be able to build as many tanks or field as many foot soldiers as Russia or China.

And keep in mind that the high tech unit theory has had some successes. Quite a few good fighters, the M1A1, and US submarines are products of the better technology at any cost theory.

The big problem is the inversion of that theory, where hyper expensive projects are pushed becuase they are expensive. Buisness and poltical backers push for projects to channel money where they want it, no matter the actual merits of the project. And the military is slow to cut a project that seemed like a good idea when it was started, even if it has shown no success at all.

Jay