Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:30:48-1:32:37

Why submarines do not automatically crowd out armies

Large submarine programmes are spread across many years, so weak army spending reflects political priorities and real-terms budget choices rather than an automatic naval raid on land forces.

Defence BudgetInterservice RivalryNaval ProcurementRoyal NavySubmarines
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Question

Can spending on submarines cripple a country's army and air force?

Short answer

Not automatically; multi-year programme totals are misleading, and the decisive choice is whether government funds defence priorities adequately across services.

Notes

Russian submarines did not by themselves cripple the army and air force. Major defence projects accumulate imposing headline totals because their spending is distributed over long development and construction periods. A government can still choose to protect the overall budget against inflation or add funds for another service. Blaming the submarine or aircraft carrier disguises the political decision that set the service priorities in the first place.