The whole thing of nations trying to build the fastest, stealthiest, VTOL-est, most high-tech expensive fighter they can reminds me of the generals desperately

The whole thing of nations trying to build the fastest, stealthiest, VTOL-est, most high-tech expensive fighter they can reminds me of the generals desperately trying to engineer cavalry charges in 1917 or the navy folks dreaming about bigger battleships in 1944. To see where this ends up, look at Ukraine, you've got a few of the remaining high-tech super-expensive fighters loitering a long way from the battlefield launching long-range standoff munitions and then leaving again, and that's it. Or look at Iran, lawnmower-engine-powered darts stalemating the country with the most expensive, high-tech fighters in the world, and the US is running out of munitions while Iran is a long way from running out of darts. A thousand darts beat one F-35 no matter how technically superior it is.