More than 75% of the production run was lost in combat...

Caption via USAF Phantom 2 Tumblr Page...
F-105D Thunderchief. The 105 lost more than 75% of the production run over the skies of the North as it bore the brunt of the Rolling Thunder & Linebacker Campaign’s as an Iron Bomber.

That stunning statistic is common knowledge to any person with even a passing interest in the Vietnam War.

I wonder though.

Considering the "limited" production runs of combat aircraft, vehicles and ships today, could we soon be saying the same for entire swaths of our force if we were to engage in a war with a peer?

My point is simple.

Have we become so high tech that we don't have any staying power?  If we cross swords with China and the war to drag on for more than a year what would we have left to fight with?  How rapidly could industry and the armed force ramp up for anything but a Short SHARP war?

If the Chinese changed the game and makes the next war a war of attrition could we keep up?  I'm talking high tech equipment.  Manpower is a totally different kettle of fish that I don't even want to think about.