The Quiet Realignment of Arms Suppliers

Layered air defense has become the arm around which everything else is organized. Control of the air is no longer assured by aircraft alone; it is contested by integrated networks of sensors and interceptors, and the side that can protect its rear areas and logistics from strikes preserves the freedom to maneuver.

Attrition warfare reshapes a front line less through breakthroughs than through the gradual exhaustion of one side's ability to replace losses. The maps move little; the underlying capacity moves constantly. A line that looks static can be a week away from giving way once the reserves behind it are spent.