Weapons Systems Quotes

It is my desire that the airplane be produced in quantity so that it can be used in this war—not the next.

My role in the White House was grossly exaggerated by the press. Fortunately for the American people, when the president had to make a critical economic decision or a decision on a weapons system, he did not turn to me and say, 'Hamilton, what in the hell do I do?'

The defense industry understands that the military budgets will continue to be cut until a new threat comes along.

We are beginning to resemble extinct dinosaurs, who suffered from too much armor and too little brain.

I will allow myself to call it devilish; for this was the new war fiend, destined, along with others of the same breed, to annihilate whole navies and batter down old supremacies.

[Discussing specific weapons systems:] I voted for them when I was in Congress. Now that I'm secretary [of defense] I have to figure out a way to pay for them.

I don't think you can perpetrate war crimes with defensive weapons, with air defense systems.

Any great power—especially a great one suddenly deprived of its traditional adversary—faces the perennial dilemma of showing a reasonable return on its costly military investments.

We need to stop spending money on those weapons systems that do not advance national security.

There are many valid concerns about AI, from its impact on jobs to its uses in autonomous weapons systems and even to the potential risk of superintelligence.

I think there [are] great economies that can be made starting with a round of base closings, ... I want the president to veto these pork-barrel spending bills which have grown to incredible obscene levels. I believe there are a number of weapons systems that have to be eliminated.

The ideal weapons system is built in 435 congressional districts, and it doesn't matter whether it works or not.

The fact is that America's weapons systems have made it impossible for anybody to confront it militarily. So, all you have is your wits and your cunning, and your ability to fight in the way the Iraqis are fighting.

Why does the Air Force need expensive new bombers? Have the people we've been bombing over the years been complaining?

Displaying weapons systems and threatening to use them can prove more cost-efficient than their actual use. But cyber-weapons are hard to brandish.

I agree with the many who consider freezing all sorts of weapons systems a first step in a realistic disarmament policy.

On the justification for the war, it wasn't related to finding any particular weapon of mass destruction. In our judgment, it was much more fundamental. It was the removing of a regime that was hostile, that clearly had the intention of constructing weapons systems. ... I think, frankly, that everybody knew the post-war situation was probably going to be more difficult than the war itself. Canada remains alienated from its allies, shut out of the reconstruction process to some degree, unable to influence events. There is no upside to the position Canada took.

You really can’t blame the military for wanting to go to war [in Iraq]. They’ve got all these new toys and they want to know whether they work or not.

Well, back to the old drawing board.

Weapons systems the U.S. sold to the Shah of Iran wound up in the hands of Islamic militants who seized power there in 1979; a comparable scenario in Saudi Arabia is hardly impossible.

In cyberspace, weapons systems get created in 24-hour cycles. You have no earthly idea whether or not you have a defensive capability against them.

It’s actually a lot easier to cut weapons systems than to cut personnel costs. If you try and cut military pay and benefits, you run into a buzz saw on Capitol Hill.

There are hugely creative military leaders who have contemplated just the kind of changes that are needed. In Washington, however, strength lies with the opponents rather than the proponents of change. And the opponents possess the ultimate political weapon of mass destruction. They can accuse leaders who want to challenge the status quo of making America weak. So we’re left with all the systems the country has accumulated to counter every post World War II defense challenge: multiple air forces, multiple expeditionary forces; multiple cyber-commands. We can’t afford what we have. We don’t need much of what we have.

The military system is, to a substantial extent, a method whereby the population provides a subsidy to the high technology industry.

I have no doubt that we will be successful in harnessing the sun's energy.... If sunbeams were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago.