A smaller standing force with flexible production can outlast a larger one in war

Evidence

Quality of personnel likewise was given short shrift. Although the Germans suffered from the “teething problems” associated with a young and expanding force, questions of training, morale, and maintenance were generally ignored. Similarly, emphasis on numbers of planes usually excluded consideration of each side’s production capacity, which was vital for sustaining and increasing its force in wartime. A country might be stronger with a somewhat smaller standing air force supported by large and flexible production facilities than it would be with a larger force that would not be maintained in the face of wartime losses. But production facilities remained marginal to the British estimates of the military balance. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2598

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the concept of resilience and slack over peak capacity across systems; ties to any reading on supply-chain or industrial-warfare history.