The End of the Exposed Warfighter—Cost Asymmetry and Attrition Economics in Modern Combat
Journal: Preprints.org
Year: 2026

Recent conflicts indicate a structural inversion in the economics of warfare. The exposed human warfighter, requiring prolonged training, continuous sustainment, and high replacement cost, now operates at a growing disadvantage relative to low cost, rapidly replaceable machine systems. This paper argues that modern warfare is increasingly governed not by individual skill or platform sophistication, but by logistics, replacement speed, and cost asymmetry under sustained attrition. Using attrition