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Big guns still matter in an age of drones
Imagining there’s a cheaper alternative to massive defence spending on fighter jets and other big-ticket weaponry is just wishful thinking.
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Drones can enhance tactical manoeuvrability but they cannot replace the fighter planes, ships and tanks needed to project force that makes enemies blink.
PHOTO: DAVID GUTTENFELDER/NYTIMES
Blame the Golden Dome missile shield plan of US President Donald Trump for being too big, too expensive (at US$175 billion) and too “beautiful”.
Like his description of a spanking new sixth-generation F-47 plane, one that he calls the “most lethal aircraft ever built”, the bombastic language employed draws the wrong sort of focus and perhaps the wrong sort of criticism.
