Even a very large defence budget can struggle to provide deep stocks when individual weapons are expensive. US spending illustrates how a substantial investment can still purchase relatively few weapons. The expectation that technology would make war cleaner and more efficient encouraged the belief that smaller forces could do more. Post-Cold War confidence in being able to choose when to fight added another assumption to that approach. Both expectations are criticised for obscuring the need for sufficient quantities.
Notable Point · 3:43-4:49
Why a large weapons budget can still buy a shallow stockpile
Expensive individual weapons complicate the promise that advanced technology allows smaller forces to do more.