Cheaper and more effective ways of waging war are emerging, but then there’s the American (and Australian) way that still sees the waste of horrendously expensive equipment.

In early April a US A-10 Thunderbolt II ‘Warthog’ was hit by a drone or missile over Iran near the Persian Gulf. Whatever it was doing there, the pilot ejected over Kuwaiti territory and according to US officials was rescued unharmed. The A-10 has been in service since 1977, so in US terms it is obsolete, and its loss was apparently unmourned by the Air Force.

That a single old Warthog is worth an estimated $18.8 million (all figures in US$) hasn’t been mentioned. With comprehensive upgrades, modern weapons systems, and the high cost of maintenance, its total value can exceed $120 million. But despite that expensive lipstick, it’s still a warthog.

Also costly, at $65 million, was the F-15 Strike Eagle jet fighter that crashed on 3 April, brought down by Iranian shoulder-fired missiles or advanced air defences in Isfahan province. The US mission over two days to rescue the pilot resulted in the loss of two helicopters and, to prevent capture by local forces, destruction of two transport aircraft. The airman and his ‘weapons systems officer’ were extracted, but the incident was compared with Iran in 1980.

Why 1980? In that year, the US attempt to rescue 52 diplomats and others taken hostage by Iran’s revolutionary government in 1979 included the ‘Desert One’ incident, in which a US C-130........

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