The Airforce has a habit of updating their airframes every few decades and the F-16 and F-18 are both showing their age. Improvements only go so far until you find the airframe needs replacement. VTOL aircraft like the F-35 are the natural replacement to the old style airframes, increasing the flexibility of the military tremendously.
I mean, you can argue that the "military" really doesn't want these new airframes and vehicles... but then they also didn't want airplanes, aircraft carriers, tanks, rifled muskets, etc.
Does not work that way. There is a huge difference between having superior weapons, and having vastly superior weapons. How many lives are saved by one improvement to a weapons system? Sometimes alot, and that is so even if you already have the best weapon system in the world.
So, where does this end? Surely you know I am not advocating surrender. I have read of several cases of major weapons development that have run billions above the already lavish budgets. I have also read of instances where our soldiers died because their vehicles were not properly armored - even i an era where the military was under almost no fiscal control. So, there are smart investments and foolish ones.
Now, if you are one of the people who believe that the spending by government in excess of revenue is a good thing (and based on our current debts - this might even be true though it seems illogical) then sure, lets not cut anything. Lets design and build better and better weapons even if the current military feels they are unnecessary (NO SARCASM INTENDED).
But - let me respectfully point out why I don't support this thought process. We've done this on a miniature scale with our police departments. Instead of their trusty Glock and a pump shotgun, out officers now drive armored vehicles, dress in "space suits" and operate fully automatic weapons. Do you feel any safer? I don't. If anything, it's made them engage at a level that seems inappropriate, such as using large SWAT forces to arrest minor criminals. For my usual annoying anecdote, my neighbor Ulysses apparently sold drugs. Apparently he sold them to undercover officers over a period of time. Since he constantly pestered me for work (I am a landlord and I hire occasional workers for repairs and yard cleaning type stuff) he must not have been very high level. In the early morning hours, they surrounded his townhouse (shared walls) and they blew his door off with grenades, they dragged his little kids screaming violently out of the house, threw them to the ground and they must have used 50 officers in this project. When I opened my garage door (not realizing WTF was going on) they pointed a gun at me and ordered me to get the **** back inside (which I did instantly). There was no resistance - in another era, 3 detectives would have accomplished the arrest.
Our military is pretty well armed right now. How much better do they need to be? 100 times? 10 times? double? Where does it stop? Not developing a trillion dollar plane is not the same as proper armor for a battle vehicle. Nobody would suggest we don't protect our soldiers or invest in maintaining the equipment they use. Nobody would suggest that we don't research improvements to our current aircraft. But if we won't close any bases, we won't stop building unrequested systems, we will just consume more and more of our resources on a military that already spends nearly what the rest of the world spends every year.
I'm an army brat. My father was a 100% disabled Veteran until he died in 2012. Blinded in the Korean war, he lived in darkness for so many decades. I am not anti-military. I just feel that it may be time to lower the priorities the military gets. If you genuinely believe that every one of these projects they want to cancel will risk that same sad ending for heros like my Father, then sure, lets forget about spending restrictions and print up another trillion. But lets stop bitching about "government spending". Apparently it doesn't matter.
FWIW, Israel spends 14 billion compared to our 680 billion. They are subject to attack by every country they have borders with. We do not have but 2 borders. Nobody seems to be willing or able to attack us other than lunatic terrorist groups. Is there anything to be learned from this? Maybe not, maybe I'm wrong.