Well, there's the other interpretation: Such a government jobs program! I mean, in many cases most of that "huge expense" is going to be salary for the people

Well, there's the other interpretation: Such a government jobs program! I mean, in many cases most of that "huge expense" is going to be salary for the people that manufacture and then dispose of these arms. Of course, that puts the automation of such disposal in an interesting light: the robots are taking our jobs! Admittedly, as in most cases of "robots taking our jobs", these aren't really the sorts of jobs that most people would want to do anyway, but it does change the economic calculus of the whole military-industrial complex.