• perviouslyiner@lemmy.worldEnglish
    45·
    13 days ago

    didn’t everyone run out, two years into the war (1915/6?) for the exact same reason that US/Russia/Europe recently did?

    • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      522·
      13 days ago

      It took them years of intense warfare to run out. NATO stockpiles would last a few months. That’s not indefensible because NATO doesn’t intend to fight an artillery war, but the limited industrial capacity is still concerning. I suppose that many other factories would be refitted for the production of weapons if a major war actually broke out, but I do worry that Western Europe has gone soft after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Again, that’s not indefensible because spending vast amounts of money on weapons in the absence of any enemies that would pose a serious threat is not prudent, but rearming now seems like the wise course of action.

      (Not noncredible enough? Too noncredible? I’m only qualified to comment because I played StarCraft a lot.)

      • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        20·
        13 days ago

        Maintaining idle production capacity is expensive. Really expensive, for such specialized tooling. And war has changed a lot since 1918, artillery is no longer a lone fighting force like it once was. Countries have chosen to tool for different types of armament in a lot broader strokes.

        I’m sure, if the need arose, plants could retool a lot faster than you realize.

      • InvertedParallax@lemm.eeEnglish
        13·
        13 days ago

        That’s not indefensible because NATO doesn’t intend to fight an artillery war

        We didn’t expect to fight a war against a country with an army straight out of WW2.

        We’re trying to help a country fight a war with 60 year old gear. Give them real tech and let them roll the idiots.

    • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6·
      13 days ago

      To me it seems like comparing Western industry with China’s that China is way better at making stuff that is good enough to work but simple enough to mass produce things like crazy. And that’s most of what you need in a war.

      Force multipliers are great, but sheer force can’t be discounted either.

      Thanks for coming to my ted talk