Military Superpower
Inability to relate to others leads to narrow perspective *** * * which in turn leads to feelings of loneliness.*
Forgive me, but I love stories. Perhaps I should write stories. This is nonfiction but you already know that I am no stickler for genres. Therefore let me tell a short story about a miser and his whiskey.
The Whiskey Story
A man had a distant relative. The relative's family knew the truth about him but most people believed he was rich. He had inherited everything from his filthy rich father and squandered it all with his siblings through failed business ventures. He never worked a day in his life. Every business he touched collapsed. He got/snatched inheritance from his mother-in-law too. Now he survives on rental income. His house satin his wife's name. His mother arranged this so he could not waste that too.
One day a friend came to stay at the house of relative. The relative had a massive glass barrack. Expensive scotch bottles lined up like trophies. But there were no glasses. No seating . Just display. When the friend asked for something to drink, the relative said he could not open any bottle. These were all gifts. He took his friend to another room and offered cheap whiskey instead. The friend took a sip and said thanks before retiring.
The friend had to stay for two days. On the second day, he brought his own bottle of scotch from the market. He drank it sitting with the relative but never offered to share it. He did not even gesture toward it.
The relative humiliated his friend during that visit. Took pleasure in it. Gained nothing real from it. Just enjoyed making his friend uncomfortable. Pure sadism disguised as family interaction. The friend humiliated him back simply by sitting in his house, drinking his own whiskey, and refusing to offer any to share. This friend later told me that this was the only time in his life that he behaved this way.
Then came lockdown due to COVID-19. People with friends shared resources. They helped each other survive. This relative had to drink his entire expensive collection alone. No friends came to visit. His precious display meant nothing when he needed companionship.
America Today
America built a glass barrack. Expensive bottles lined up like trophies. Eleven nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Thirteen thousand military aircraft. Submarines that cost billions. Missiles that cost millions each. The collection was impressive. The display was perfect. But there were no glasses. No seating. Just display.
When partners came asking for help, America offered subordination instead of cooperation. When allies needed technology transfer, America refused. When nations asked for genuine partnership, America demanded dominance. Remember the discussion in last chapter? The result was always the same. Partners looked around the empty room and left. America had expensive whiskey. Nobody comes to drink it.
Empty Bottles’ Inventory
America built something unprecedented. A military machine unlike anything history had created. This is what $1.8 trillion in hardware actually looks like when nobody wants to use it with you. These are boring nubers. Skip if you want to.
Air Power: The Glass Collection
America operates roughly 13000 military aircraft. Four hundred fifty F-35 Lightning IIs at ninety million each. One hundred eighty F-22 Raptors at 150 million each. A collection of bombers alone costs 150 billion. The B-2 Spirit bomber program cost 23 billion just to develop, then 2.2 billion per aircraft to build. Twenty-one airframes sitting in hangars.
Three thousand six hundred helicopters. Apache gunships at thirty-five million each. Chinook transports. Tankers. Surveillance aircraft. Drones. Training planes.
Air power subtotal is approximately 595 billion dollars.
Naval Fleet
11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers patrol the world's oceans, searching for partners who want to cooperate. Each Ford-class carrier costs 13 billion. The older Nimitz-class ships cost less to build but require expensive modernizations that continue draining resources.
70 Arleigh Burke destroyers at 2.3 billion each. 17 Ticonderoga cruisers. 20 amphibious assault ships.
The submarine force: 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines carrying the nation's sea-based nuclear deterrent. The new Columbia-class subs will cost fifteen billion each. Virginia-class attack submarines run 3.5 billion per boat. Los Angeles-class subs, though aging, still represent billions in naval assets.
Surface fleet subtotal is 480 billion dollars. Submarine force subtotal is 363 billion dollars. Just shy of a trillion dollars.
Ground Forces
The Army maintains 4600 M1 Abrams tanks at 15 million each in today's money. 3500 Bradley fighting vehicles. 1000 Paladin self-propelled howitzers. 400 Stryker armored vehicles. Roughly two hundred thousand various tactical vehicles from Humvees to the newer Joint Light Tactical Vehicles. These machines were designed to fight alongside partners. Now they sit on bases across the globe, waiting for allies who stopped asking permission.
Ground forces subtotal is 213 billion dollars. This does not include regular maintenance and fuel etc.
Missiles and Nuclear Bargain
Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles at seven million each. The new Sentinel ICBM replacement program will cost 100 million per missile. Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles at 31 million each. Tomahawk cruise missiles at 2.4 million. Thousands of various missiles, from Patriot interceptors to HIMARS rockets.
The nuclear warhead inventory is roughly 37 hundred warheads costing an estimated 20 million each when you factor in production and life-cycle modernization. Missiles and nuclear subtotal is 170 billion dollars.
When Partners Stopped Buying
The inventory means nothing without someone to buy it. Without allies willing to integrate into American military networks. Without nations desperate enough to accept subordination in exchange for protection.
That's changing.
India rejected the F-35. India is developing its own fighter program. Indigenous design. Indigenous production. No dependence on American spare parts. No vulnerability to American sanctions. No subordination to American command structure. It bought French Rafale for immediate need. It also bought RussianS-400 and integrated it with indigenous air defence called Akashteer. Its collaboration attempt with American jet engines has already been discussed in the previous chapter.
Turkey moved toward Russia. Turkey bought S-400 air defence systems from Russia instead of Patriot systems from America. America responded with sanctions. Turkey responded by deepening ties with Russia and buying more. The expensive bottles sat unopened while Turkey found other sources.
Saudi Arabia diversified. Saudi Arabia still buys American weapons but increasingly sources from Russia and Europe. When America refused certain weapons systems, Saudi Arabia simply looked elsewhere. The relationship that once seemed permanent due to oil for protection, became transactional. Then it fractured. Saudi Arabia signed a defence pact with Pakistan. Joined BRICS. Reduced dependence on the American security umbrella.
The Philippines hesitated. The Philippines signed defence agreements with America but simultaneously deepened ties with China. It is in the process of buying Brahmos missiles from India. When America demanded exclusivity, the Philippines chose flexibility. The expensive bottles lost their appeal when you could drink from other glasses.
Poland hedged its bets. Poland bought American weapons but also developed indigenous capabilities. When America delayed deliveries or imposed conditions, Poland found alternatives. Korean systems. European systems. Anything that did not require American permission.
Brazil looked elsewhere. Brazil explored weapons systems from Russia, Europe, and China. The idea that America held a monopoly on military technology proved false. When American weapons came with strings like political conditions, sanctions threats, demands for alignment, nations simply looked elsewhere.
Egypt considered the gap. Egypt depended on American military aid but watched as America imposed conditions based on human rights concerns, regional politics, and shifting domestic preferences. The unreliability of American partnership became obvious. It bought French Rafael fighter jets. Thus, Egypt has begun diversifying sources and deepening ties with Russia and Gulf states.
The Hidden Costs
That 1580 billion dollar hardware inventory represents just the beginning. The F-35 program shows what actually happens. The Pentagon plans to buy 25 hundred F-35s for about 400 billion. Sounds expensive until you learn they project spending another 1.27 trillion just to operate and sustain them over their service life. That is a 3.2 to one ratio of sustainment to procurement costs, probably optimistic.
Each F-35 currently costs 6.2 million per year just to maintain. Over a 30 year service life, that is 186 million in maintenance alone per aircraft. Not counting fuel. Not counting upgrades. Not counting pilot training. Not hangar facilities. The Government Accountability Office warns that sustainment costs will likely exceed current projections by billions more.
This pattern repeats everywhere. Aircraft carriers require billion-dollar overhauls every few years. Nuclear submarines need reactor refuelling costing hundreds of millions per boat. Even tanks require constant upgrades, engine rebuilds, modernization programs.
Before you can build any military system, you have to invent it. As stated earlier, the F-35 spent roughly 70 billion on research and development before producing a single operational aircraft. The F-22 Raptor cost 40 billion to develop. The B-2 Spirit bomber required 23 billion in R&D for just twenty-one aircraft.
Since World War II, America has spent an estimated two to three trillion on defe nce research and development. DARPA alone has consumed over 200 billion since 1958. Add classified programs, satellite development, nuclear weapons research, special operations capabilities. The R&D bill easily exceeds the current hardware inventory value.
The real cost, when you factor in everything needed to build, operate, and sustain this force over its lifetime, approaches 30 trillion dollars. That is not a typo. It's the price tag of being the world's only global military superpower.
Bottles Nobody Wants
Modern military systems combine cutting-edge technology with extreme performance requirements. An F -35 fighter must operate from aircraft carriers, conventional runways, short helicopter landing zones. It needs stealth capability, advanced sensors, network connectivity, ability to engage air and ground targets. Each requirement adds complexity and cost.
Military contractors face unique challenges. They produce small quantities of highly specialized equipment. There is no civilian market for nuclear submarines or strategic bombers. Quality requirements exceed commercial standards because failure means lives are lost and missions failed.
America maintained global military dominance by making allies dependent on American weapons. The strategy worked for decades. Then something shifted. Partners realized they could build their own capabilities. Or buy from Russia, Europe, China, or India without the strings attached. Or develop indigenous industries instead of remaining perpetually subordinate.
The expensive bottles became a liability. They required endless maintenance. They demanded exclusive loyalty. They offered no reciprocal sharing.
The Empty House
America displays military power like expensive bottles. 11 carrier groups. 13,000 aircraft. 3700 nuclear warheads. But when partners need real cooperation, America offers subordination instead. The result follows the same pattern. America consumes its 850 billion dollar annual military budget in isolation. Other nations build partnerships without American help.
Display without sharing creates no lasting bonds. The relative could have learned this during lockdown. But neither he learned his lesson nor America will learn despite the breakdown of alliances. The expensive bottles sat unopened for years. Then got consumed in solitude. America's military arsenal faces the same fate. Resources without relationships equal isolation. Impressive statistics hide fundamental loneliness.
This is how empires end. Not with dramatic collapse. With quiet abandonment. Partners stop asking for help. They build their own alternatives. They buy from other suppliers. They develop indigenous capabilities. The empire watches its carefully assembled advantage dissolve.
The relative wasted good scotch in his empty house. America wastes good money on unused weapons. The pattern repeats across history. Every empire thinks its display will last forever. Every empire discovers that relationships matter more than resources. Every empire learns too late. The mathis simple. Isolation plus resources equals waste. Connection plus cooperation equals wealth. Every empire gets this choice. Most choose wrong. The whiskey is gone. The bottles are empty. The friends never comeback. This is the price of choosing appearance over authenticity. This is how superpowers become mere memories.
This story is not about the relative. It is about imperial psychology. It is about the price of pride. It is about what happens when display becomes more important than sharing. Empires fall the same way. One relationship at a time. One broken promise at a time. One unopened bottle at a time. Until they sit alone with their treasures. Drinking expensive whiskey in empty rooms. Wondering where everybody went. The answer is simple. They went somewhere they could share a drink.
There is no cut in the Budget of the USA. It is still maintained at over eight hundred billion dollars. That seems like over stretching. In the next chapter we will compare if USA is overstretched the way the British Empire was overstretched in the 1940’s.
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