We’re Going To Fight With What We Have
5th March 2024
One of the characteristics of WWII, which made the defeat of Germany and Japan a foregone conclusion, was the vast industrial capacity of the US and the ability to convert that capacity to wartime production needs. In contrast, today we lack the sheer foundation of industry and, for a host of reasons, the ability to convert what we do have to wartime needs and to scale up the capacity that we do have.
Why, you ask, can’t we scale up and convert the industry that we do have to wartime needs? As an illustrative example, recall that in WWII, auto manufacturers were able to convert from cars to tanks, aircraft, and other equipment. Ford Motor Company, for example, produced B-24 bombers and M-4 tanks, among other items. Conversion to wartime production was possible, in large part, due to the fact that civilian automobiles and military vehicles and aircraft used, basically, the same equipment. An M-4 tank wasn’t that different from an automobile. Bombers and tanks used radial engines which were, themselves, just automobile engines in a different shape than an in-line car engine. And so on.
Now, consider a modern Abrams tank or a B-2/B-21 bomber as compared to a typical automobile. There’s no comparison and little similarity! Turbine engines have little in common with car engines. Advanced armors have little in common with automobile sheet metal. Exotic materials like titanium, composites, etc. have little in common with sheet metal and run of the mill steel and aluminum. Forming, welding, and manipulating exotic materials requires exotic skills. Stealth coatings have nothing in common with automobile paint. Micron tolerances have nothing in common with automobile level tolerances. And so on.
Yes, given years of time to retrain workers, revamp factories, master advanced production techniques, and so forth, we could convert but we aren’t going to have years of time in a war. If we can’t convert quickly, we aren’t going to convert at all.