America has launched 160 cruise missiles into Libya thus far. Every Tomahawk costs a million and a bit dollars, so when you think about it, it'd actually be cheaper for them to be dropping Ferraris on their enemies. But here's the really nuts part: the US Navy can shoot up to 255 of these every year without affecting their budget because they buy about that much every year anyways just to keep their stocks current. They had just used ~180 million dollars worth of ordinance, triple Great Britain's entire inventory, and it literally has no effect on their budget. Needless to say, I think their defense spending could stand to be cut a bit.
Theoretically NATO allows alliance members to have a very robust C2 capability in coordinating their efforts. Yes, NATO's C2 structure is indeed very good. The problem is that it seems most of the time when they get involved, its member nations have their own ideas about mission scope and are all off doing their own thing simultaneously. And of course America is always doing its own thing. It's like adding another head to the same mess of limbs. Time to reconsider the concept I think.
Fun fact: "Norway grounded its F-16s in Crete simply because it had no idea who was who and why."
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