Hi Dylan. I don't feel Desert Storm is remotely comparable to Russia. Different terrain. Military size, tradition, etc. As you know, I was never in the military. I can only extrapolate from what others write.

One of my favorite books about war is "About Face". He talks about keeping the M14 because the new M16s they were issued had all kind of problems. That story repeats over military history. Some new tech comes out but on the battlefield it malfunctions or doesn't do what's needed. In time, they fix the problems, but that doesn't happen overnight.

American jet fighters need a crew of near rocket scientists to maintain. Russia's fighters can be maintained by the pilot and a single mechanic (or so I've read).

All the tech in the world doesn't change ballistics. It doesn't give Ukrainians a benefit over an almost 80 year old design AK-47. It doesn't change the physics of explosives.

I still believe the West will "win" over Russia. But not until it recognizes that most of its new tech might not be up to the job. So either fix it or make more traditional stuff. I see little movement in either, or almost not movement.

F-35s, as you know, aren't designed to fly alone. they're nodes in a large network. They were designed with a fantasy war in mind. Ukraine is not that war. The West won't change until it gets a bloody nose. Until the general public understands real fear. Don't know fi that will happen.

Anyway, again, I've never felt less confident in my ability to read what's going on over there. But I suspect the hard truth is Western weapons cannot get the job done and the Biden Administration (and current Congress/Senate) aren't the ones to fix anything.