Pre Twilight War Military Build Up

[Mohoender]

This is in no way a thread stating how things ought to be but a brainstorming to what might have been. We all know from the game what the political stuation was prior to 1996. We know what military equipments were available and from that we can imagine that a new if more limited arm race at existed prior to the conflict (As leg pointed out in another thread, things evolved quite fast toward the nulcear exchange which takes place only about 1 year after NATO involvement in Europe). We even had plenty of OOB dating 1996. However, I don't recall that we ever discussed the military building that brought the Twilight War to what it was.

IMHO

USSR had starting to build massive amounts of weapons by 1995 (we can take that from granted). I would also assume that USSR carried on several modernization program prior to 1995 in response to the growing tensions in the Far East (for exemple, several Mig-21 brought up to Mig-21/93 standards). It had expented all of its forces (air, ground and navy) produces more new equipments, done some basing refitting and sometimes advanced ones on the oldest equipments.

China has assembled a massive army and produces large amount of equipements by 1995. However, most of them remain outdated until supplies are received from tghe West. I also expect China to have applied a 1 rifle for two men policy.

France after lowering military spending to 3% of its GDP by 1990 slightly raised it above cold war levels in face of the growing tensions to reach 4 to 4.5% of its GDP. That generates major social turmoil but allows for the production of more subs, more aircrafts, new tanks (Leclerc) an additional aircraft carrier and 2 to 3 LPH resembling the Mistral but copied on the planned nuclear PH75 (one might have entered production and the other are still not commissioned).

Germany, we know.

UK has suspended the decommissioning of several ships and established more squadrons while equipements taken out of service are put in storage.

Sweden relies on heavy storage

NATO or Warsaw Pact give me some headache.

And I doubt US simply sitted there, despite Tanner being foolish. New equipments might have been fielded with some delays as IRL but prototypes would have been produced earlier and more equipements would have gone off the drawing boards while several older equipments were not retired, porbably undergoing extensive modernizations or put in storage. By 1995, the situation has changed and US starts to enter the arm race, not expecting to be drawn into the obviopusly coming conflict but applying a "prepare for the worse policy". Moreover, military industries are going with more private ventures than ever, expecting some heavy sales to China (something similar occurs to arm industries all around the world). They are soon proven right and if not for Congress forbidding several exports, profits would have been even higher. Meanwhile, the USN starts to work everywhere on getting part of the mothballed fleets back in action (I'm not talking of combat ships but of transports and combat cargo). If the worse occurs, you might need them fast to bring supplies to the fronts. As a result, when US troops cross the frontier into Poland, US arm industry is already ready to convert to a full time war production.

Something else, more US citizens have applied from 1994 to the various active State Guards.

Some thoughts. Incomplete but thoughts nonetheless