Improvised explosive devices found in Baghdad in 2005
The U.S. military must avoid being on the wrong side of the cost-exchange ratio if it hopes to prevail in future conflict. Improvised explosive devices such as these, found in Baghdad in 2005, cost little to make but cost the U.S. billions in personnel and equipment losses.
Public domain

To Deter or Win Future Wars, the United States Must Reverse the Cost-Exchange Ratio

Congress and the American public must ensure the U.S. military reverses its tendency to spend a lot more money than its adversaries while yielding poor results.
By Harlan Ullman
May 2021
Proceedings
Comments

Consider three questions. First, while the U.S. military prides itself on being a perpetual learning machine, why are its strategy and force structure still very much rooted in industrial-age legacy systems? Second, if one side imposes more than fifteen times the casualties on the enemy than it suffers and destroys 8 to 10 times as many enemy aircraft as it loses, who wins?  Third, in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, how much money did the U.S. military spend on countering improvised  explosive devices (IEDs) and how much did those IEDs cost the enemy? 

Premium Member-Only Content

Don't miss out. Become a member of the Naval Institute today.

Join Today

*While not the only reason for losing the Vietnam War, this was a significant contributing factor. 

Harlan Ullman

Dr. Ullman’s next book, due out in December, is The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How Massive Attacks of Disruption Became Looming Existential Threats to a Divided Nation and the World at Large. 

More Stories From This Author View Biography

Related Articles

Too Big to Sink

Lieutenant Jeff Vandenengel, U.S. Navy
May 2017
During the 2008 financial crisis the theory emerged that certain companies, particularly financial institutions, were “too big to fail.” These firms were considered to be so large and entwined with ...

Quicklinks