CSBA strategists explain how a weapon can help you win without ever being used

In a new study of strategy in an age of austerity, three CSBA authors, led by Andrew
Krepinevich, state that the B-1 bomber imposed disproportionate costs on the
Soviet military, forcing it to invest in air defenses "at the expense of
offensive capabilities, thereby pushing the superpower competition in a highly
favorable direction." Very Sun Tzu-ish!

They also argue that
given the basic resiliency of the United States, "a strategy that plays for
time or envisions the capability to contest a long-term competition appears to
be relevant today."

Another good line:
"Strategy is about taking risks and deciding what will not be done as well as
what will." This was the essence of the decisions Marshall and Eisenhower
contemplated in World War II: What was essential (keeping the Soviets in the
war, for example) vs. merely important (lots of other things).