How long would it take for a modern conventional world war to reach full intensity?

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Chris 777

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What I mean is that in the ww2 era ships and planes etc took a lot less time to build and get into the fighting. These days ships can take years... most air craft carriers take around 7 years to build, test etc. Training modern pilots also is a lot more involved then in ww2. Therefore, would the war (assuming it stayed conventional), be largely UAVs and troops fighting? Then for the countries still standing, years later a much larger air and sea war?

How quickly could aircraft and ships be brought into service if the government made it a major priority? How short could training time be? How many could realistically be built given modern costs? etc
 
There wouldn't be a buildup period. Modern weapons move so fast and have such long ranges all the major fighting would be finished, one way or the other, before new equipment would be built. If the two powers were technologically equivalent, large vessels such as aircraft carriers would be destroyed before they could even be finished.

What you might see is a swift and bloody opening phase, followed by a prolonged ground war where pockets of troops roam around with very few vehicles, aircraft, or other external support.

Whereas past wars had a tendency to build "up" to larger armies, larger guns, and, larger vessels, modern warfare has a tendency to move "down" to smaller units, smaller vehicles, and smaller equipment.
 
Using the US as an example, they have excellent long-range capacity. They can establish air superiority better than any country on the planet. But the key in any conflict is control on the ground, which would take some time for the US to muster up enough forces, especially if they have another conflict going on somewhere in the world.

Look at Gulf War I and the many months US forces spent in the Saudi desert waiting to get enough equipment and personnel.
 
i agree with the first answer. however, i dont think it would be troops with a few random working vehicles or planes. i think most vehicles and planes would still work..think of the stratiegic reserves the government has. with that, lots of vehicles could operate for a long time.
 
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