Eli5: Why is it that whenever we hear about “defense spending” it’s always on offensive things like weapons? Is there not a way to make actual defense the priority instead of offense?

Question

I could be missing the point about military spending, and the five-year-old in my head asking the question does just want forcefields over every country in the end.

In: Technology

Answer 1

Right now we don’t have “defensive” technology to stop a large scale attack (like force fields or whatever), so for the US, “defense” is really having a good offense.

I’m sure eventually there will be some kind of Wakanda style shield, but right now, the best bet is having offensive weapons (aircraft carriers or missile submarines) to project the ability to (counter)attack throughout the world.