The American Aircraft Industrial Base: On the Brink

摘要

Today's fighter pilots are the modern equivalent of medieval knights. We consider them products of their societies and dependent upon those societies. That is, the warrior class of knights emerged from a feudal system based on land grants required to support them, as well as their horses and squires (just as fighter pilots have their aircraft and crew chiefs). Not self-sufficient, the knight received support from complex relationships involving serfs, merchants, craftsmen, and religion. The fighter pilot receives support from an even more complex system of taxation and budgeting that enables billion-dollar research and development, together with production programs. Just as a knight depended upon a blacksmith for his weapons and armor, so does the fighter pilot rely upon the capability of the supporting industrial base.