An Edge Measured in Human Lives : Is U.S. losing its technological advantage over nations it may one day face in battle?

Just as there are ultimately no secrets in science--what’s discovered in one place can in time be discovered or replicated somewhere else--neither is there any enduring monopoly on technology. That lack of exclusivity can be worrying in the area of high-tech military products.

As Times correspondent Art Pine reported from Washington recently, a number of American defense experts are growing increasingly concerned about an erosion in the edge the United States has long enjoyed in military technology. The worry is not that other countries might surpass ours in developing highly sophisticated military-related equipment. Rather it is that countries that are seen as threats to regional stability and peace could acquire advanced equipment that, at a minimum, would increase the cost if this country ever had to militarily oppose their aggression.

Allied victory in World War II was at least hastened by American and British technological achievements in such fields as radar, code-breaking, the development of long-range bombers and, eventually, the atomic bomb. The allied coalition’s victory in the Persian Gulf War was similarly eased by a host of technological advances, everything from special starlight-gathering goggles that allow infantrymen and tank personnel to see in the dark to highly precise cruise missiles and satellite positioning systems. Now, however, much of the technology involved in these systems is becoming available on the open market, with Russia and China among the top suppliers. Countries that are ready to pay the price--as Iran and Iraq have shown they are--can add a lot of sophistication to their military capabilities.

Is the United States doing enough in response? Here a quiet debate among defense specialists goes on. Some note the continuing lack of a reliable air-defense missile system to counteract enemy cruise missiles and of safeguards to protect the computers that are vital to military communications. Others, however, caution against overestimating the ability of potential enemies among Third World countries to coherently use whatever advance technology they may acquire in a way that would make a real difference.

On one essential point there is agreement. The United States can’t afford to coast or skimp on continuing defense-related research and development. The qualitative U.S. edge in military technology has to be maintained, because without that edge the threat to American combatants in future conflicts could rise unacceptably.

The Cold War’s end has allowed a downsizing of the U.S. military. But what remains is still the world’s most important fighting force. It continues to require the best possible technological help and protection.