[nullocator]

This should be a massive wakeup call to anyone who believes the ~$500B-1T per year "defense" tax burden placed on U.S. citizens for the last 20 years is keeping them safe.

Apparently it wasn't until Ukraine+Iran that the most sophisticated and well funded military in the world realized that cheap drones and missiles weren't just the future but they are the present. We've been getting raked over the coals by these defense contractors and I'm guessing we probably have no idea how far down are pants actually are.

And the response: 1.5x the budget and unboard a new generation of corrupt defense contractors who will sell the american military and people more shit tier products at top dollar.

[9x39]

It could also be that the tide is changing and we did have the security ROI until cheap drone tech emerged to push us to a new gen of warfare.

For example, there is still a stable petrodollar, there are 11 carrier battle groups and 70 nuclear subs out there, there is an experienced US military capable of force projection. These are a few random metrics from a casual observer, and we seem to get more out of spending than some rival countries.

[throw0101a]

> Apparently it wasn't until Ukraine+Iran that the most sophisticated and well funded military in the world realized that cheap drones and missiles weren't just the future but they are the present.

As important as drones (short- and long-range) are in the current conflicts, it's not like Ukraine isn't using tanks or isn't asking for fighter planes (and non-cheap Tomahawk missiles).

* https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/23/europe/ukraine-sweden-gripen-...

On this general topic, the Baltic Defence Review channel just posted the video "1 Tank or 5,000 Drones: What Would You Choose?":

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLJz5dva5qY

I'm not sure it's "either-or", but rather "both-and".