Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is planning on cutting billions of dollars out of the defense budget. Monstrously large military programs are on the chopping block, along with the American jobs associated with them. In a time where America is fighting two wars, beefing up homeland security, and now defending national water lanes from pirates, cutting back on military spending would appear to be a gross misstep. It takes hours for U.S. Navy ships to arrive on the scene when commercial ships are threatened by marauding pirates, should we not build more ships? Air superiority allows the American military to project it’s will around the globe and dominate battlefields, is it not rational to upgrade our air force? All good questions and the answer to all are the same; No we shouldn’t.

A showdown is looming between congress and Gates over the proposed military budget cuts. The 5th generation F-22 air superiority fighter has costs years and billions of dollars to develop. Manufacturing and development employs thousands of Americans and pushes millions of dollars to state governments. Gates plan’s to scale back the number of F-22 the Defense Department will purchase; this will result in lost revenue and jobs in many counties across the country. At first glance this would seem idiotic and unpatriotic; Gates however is once again showing his grasp of strategic strategy and general wisdom. As the world stands today no Air Force in the world is as potent as the U.S. Air Force, nor shall any country in the near future be able to field such an Air Force that could equal ours. The Iraqi Air Force during Iraqi Freedom refused to even attempt conflict with American fighter pilots. With this being the case, why would we spend increasing money developing weapons for the field of war we already dominate. Additionally, Navy warships are able to reach non-strategic points of the globe in a matter of hours is a testament to the global reach our Navy has when considering the vastness of the ocean. There is not enough money in the world to build enough Navy ships to speed up our response time. The current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has proven that future conflicts are going to be fought in an asymmetrical way where small mobile forces are needed. Redirecting money to make our military forces more effective and mobile is the best way to prepare for the future. Long gone is the time when huge tank battalions would slug it out on the field. Long gone are the days when massive air superiority wars were fought. Long gone are the days of costly defense project overruns and ineffective defense spending, if Gates has his way.