[GZG] FTverse colinies

Oerjan wrote:

>...
> >but the comparison would not always be in favor of the USA,
>
>Of course it won't. If it were, I'd be unemployed :-)

Like lot of people around the world :)

>...if a weapon system could
> >be produced in Zimbabwe (for example) and such a thing could be made
> >with a labor intensive procedure, it could be more convenient to make
> >it there.
>
>Very much so. Though in the particular case of Zimbabwe, I suspect that
>you'd mostly get cannon fodder with spears and machetes - thanks to Mr.
>Mugabe & co. that country currently lacks virtually all kinds of
>infrastructure needed for more advanced weapons... ('Course, cannon
fodder
>is quite labour intensive to produce too, at least for the mothers :-/
)

And society too... you have to build them up for 9 months and 13-odd 
years (if we think of recent terrible events in Africa):(
Anyway, on lighter notes (so to speak), what do you expects from a 
country where elections are going to be repeated due to the fact that 
people chose the wrong party, and a member of the Politburo of Mugabe 
just declared that people have better to choose wisely or else a 
civil war will ensue...

>Certainly. As one of the South African defence companies used to
advertise:
>"80% of the capability for 60% of the cost" :-) (Which in itself is
>refutation of Robert's idea that monetary costs and combat power are
>proportional to one another...)

Right on point.

John added:

>You also have to consider that no procurement decision is made in a
>vacuum.  Countries with the luxury of knowing precisely who they will
>fight and where they will fight them have a different set of
>priorities than a country which must project power across the globe
>against unpredictable adversaries.

That's right. But that's more a political/strategical decision than 
an economical factor.
And, as somebody wrote before during the recent exchanges, there are 
other factors that warp military requirement decision, like political 
convenience (internal and external)... the USA built systems because 
of where, in the country, the plants producing them were sited, and 
countries like Taiwan bought US "hand-me-down" vessels they didn't 
need because US funds were going to pay for them and/or there were no 
other competitor's offers.

And Brendan wrote:

>Relating back to FTverse; the intent to project military power (through
>FTL) is going to impact "acceptable" costs.  Transporting thousands of
>militia or a few elite units is just logistics; replacing
>casualties/ammo/equipment may be prohibitive with the travel times
>required.
>The "effective" points cost we can PSB to include the logistical costs
>of putting those forces on the front line (ie: you pay less up front,
>but need more to be "comparable" to a more expensive force).

That should definitely be considered in a "campaign" situation and in 
evaluating the economical/military power of a country (stellar or 
otherwise)... and things could get rough there, if our occasional 
experience of "high-tech" war has a meaning (I'm referring to the 
Israeli-Arab War of '73 and the logistical problems it caused in few 
weeks of operations, that several among you probably know about).... 
big numbers just to maintain troops in line...

On another line, I do not believe in the "elite myth"... I think our 
experiences show that high quality forces (with both training and 
material superiority) rule the battlefield, but are very limited when 
things move to the "asymmetrical" war... want to destroy a planet's 
power grid? Having local aerospace superiority is all you need! But 
if you want to occupy for any time the main population centers 
against a motivated opposition, you'll need far more than SAS or 
Delta Force or a few companies of powersuited infantry, or they'll 
bleed to death through thousands small attacks from unarmored, 
untrained militians, IMO.

Best wishes

							 Enzo de Ianni 

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