The Glade 4.0

I'd have to do a ton of research to form a real opinion, but as a guess, somewhere around 40%.

That would be fantastic, if we could do something like that, and I have certain systems in mind I'd really like to do precisely that with; most notably the B-52.

However, that would mean more spending now to get these benefits at an unknown point down the road, and more importantly, these things need to still perform in combat. What would happen to maintenance costs? What about readiness, and serviceability in field conditions? What about weight?

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Ummm ...

No need to replace the B-52s any time soon.

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That is why I suggested sunsetting rather than mothballing/scrapping all at once. Gradually shift away from old/current tech and retool what you can. Similar to what they did with the Apache, which was a worthless POS before they installed the Longbow system.

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Well no, not with the current strategy. However, as I've said before, I'd prefer to see an end to arms control, and a shift to a force based on manned bombers and ABMs with a small sea-based SLBM component for survivability reasons. As part of this, I'd want to see the B-1B converted to the B-1R and a new, fast, high altitude semi-stealthy (as in, not putting all its eggs in one basket as the B-2 does) bomber built in considerable numbers.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

This is largely what we're doing as it is. Much of our frontline equipment is still the best or among the best in the world despite being 30 or more years old in terms of basic design; the M-1 series tanks, M-2/M-3 series BFV, the F-15, F-16, and of course the B-52 to name a few.

As for the Apache, I don't know why you think it was a worthless POS before Longbow; Longbow is a huge improvement, but it isn't as if the helicopter wasn't perfectly good for its primary mission before Longbow. Longbow was delivered in production model in 1997 and the Apache had been in service since 1984 and performed well in Panama and Desert Storm. Its difficulties in Desert Storm were really a matter of maintenance, not capability. In Kosovo, there were major issues, but Kosovo was at the end of the Clinton era and *cough* lack of funding for training created most of the problems there, not the helicopter itself. There was also the issue of general casualty aversion at the time, with a public that had come to think after Desert Storm that any casualties were unacceptable, a press that encouraged this view, and a military that was far too concerned with accomadating public opinion in that regard.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."