First off, let me just say thank to everyone for their comments.
Now, I freely admit that most of the discussion about various weaponry
is over my head, so I won't comment on that stuff.
I am pleased, though, that most of the comments seem to agree with my
gut aprasial of the matter - that once they have a good grasp of what
enemy they're fighting, a First World military would be able to fight a
youma force on fairly even terms, but that teleportation is a very big
advantage for the Dark Kingdom.
Not that the human's don't have their own advantages: though there are
plenty of youma that can fly, none that aren't General-class are likely
to last long against a modern, supersonic fighter jet.
Hmm... at least assuming that the weapons systems on a jet would be able
to target slow-moving, low-flying (semi-)organic opponents without a
major overhaul. Since I have absolutely no idea on that issue, any
experts care to comment?
Now, on to some specific responses.
Bill Heineman:
The real problem for the military is that Youma (According to SM Mythos)
teleport in, then run amok. This ability to just appear means that it would
take minutes to hours before a response could be mustered and by then the
thing would gate back out before the military could blow it away. Plus,
teleportation of any kind is a huge tactical advantage that would really
ruin the day of any modern soldier.
Though teleportation is (as you pointed out) a huge strategic advantage
for the youma, from my reading of the mythos tactical teleporting won't
be much of a concern. I imagine teleporting as taking a lot of energy,
and a significant ammount of time if you want to good accuracy on where
you come out. So, in a heated firefight, it's not going to be much use.
Phong Nguyen:
An expensive thought is if various scientists can figure out a detection
routine (perhaps Mercury can analyze the 'emissions' with her computer).
If such events bring out enough energy, one could start placing sensors
all over the place to give rapid-warning of a teleport. Perhaps mass
teleports could then be detected with some sort of satellite.
If it could be done, that would be extremely useful, yes.
My basic thought, though, is that technological methods won't be able to
detect or block teleportation.
SkyeFire:
Too bad the Youma didn't have the courtesy to invade Texas... (:)
Not yet, anyway. :)
Once again, my thanks to everyone for their comments!