russian air force is not that bad. during WW2 in 41 a lot of very brave russian pilots straight out of flying school with 20 or less flying hours were going to the front. those who survived become very good and in 43-44 soviet air force had upper hand. those who died certainly played their part in victory. can't comment on Vietnam war, re: syria , where is your information coming from ? BBC news?
switched over to RT recently. cant say if its more accurate. but its deffo more entertaining. should news be entertaining btw?
Initially Ruskie aircraft were shit during WWII. I sometimes play the flight sim Battle of Stalingrad and on the forum there is always chat about how the Ruskie aircraft have far superior performance to historical and the Axis aircraft are dumbed down. From what I can gather the Russian approach is quite different they regard aircraft as a bit more expendable so they are built a lot cheaper. When out in Russia some of our lads visited a Russian pipeline station, using Russian aircraft turbines for gas pumping, Tumansky's I think. These things had welded casings when they went wrong you replaced the whole turbine not the parts, built very cheaply none of the West's exotic alloys in them. Vietnam the Thud was the main US fighter bomber and got a pasting from the MiGs, but the Phantom was a good match. Vietnam air-force had very limited numbers compared to US. But for all their faults the Ruskie planes sure look a lot better, despite their faults, sorta reminds me of a certain Eye-tal-yun motorcycle manufacturer See some pictures here Russian Air Force Photos and Video (NO DISCUSSION) - ED Forums The cat and mouse thing is used for several reasons one of them being stealth capability and also to make the other side turn on radars etc: the other side then record the signatures for use in their countermeasures I'm no expert just an interested amateur
Soviet Sabre During the Korean War, the Soviets were searching for an intact U.S. F-86 Sabre for evaluation/study purposes. Their search was frustrated, largely due to the U.S. military's policy of destroying their weapons and equipment once they had been disabled or abandoned; and in the case of U.S. aircraft, USAF pilots destroyed most of their downed Sabres by strafing or bombing them. However, on one occasion an F-86 was downed in the tidal area of a beach and subsequently was submerged, preventing its destruction. The aircraft was ferried to Moscow and a new OKB (Soviet Experimental Design Bureau) was established to study the F-86, which later became part of the Sukhoi OKB. "At least one F-86 ... was sent to the Soviet Union, the Russians admitted, and other planes and prizes such as U.S. G-suits and radar gun sights also went." The Soviets studied and copied the optical gunsight and radar from the captured aircraft to produce the ASP-4N gunsight and SRC-3 radar. Installed in the MiG-17, the gunsight system would later be used against American fighters in the Vietnam war. The F-86 studies also contributed to the development of aircraft aluminum alloys such as V-95. Reports in 2012 from newly declassified documents confirmed that the Soviets had acquired some US aircraft technology. In several accounts by American pilots from late 1951 into 1952, at least one F-86 was in operation under Soviet control during the Korean War. The pilots report having come under fire from US planes, including from the F-86. Feather Duster The old but nimble MiG-17 had become such a serious threat against the Republic F-105 Thunderchief over North Vietnam that the U.S. Air Force created project "Feather Duster" to test which tactics supersonic American fighters could use against fighters like the MiG-17. Air National Guard F-86H units proved to be an ideal stand-in for the Soviet jets. One pilot remarked that "In any envelope except nose down and full throttle", either the F-100 or F-105 was inferior to the F-86H in a dogfight. F-86 Sabre did fly in Vietnam - just not with the Americans (or bits of them did)... Interesting...
