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Russia Tests Another Supersonic T-50 fighter

Are we lagging behind?

MtnHtr

Maybe not yet but soon...........

I am not aware of any Soviet high tec military hardware that lived up to its hype..

Years ago, the Mig 25 Foxbat was cutting edge for the Soviets, and the West saw it as some sort of super plane. However when we eventually got our hands on one, it was not so impressive in the flesh at all..

But what about Firfox?

I was referring to BamBam's systematic dis-assembly of America....

The Russians developed an internet browser????

Got me, good one.

You mean this one?



Funny, and very low tech!

MtnHtr

Roll out hype and a couple of test flights does not a squadron make..If they didn't use much Zinc Chromate again on this new generation they will be dog chit and scrap in ten years or less!! Ruskie metallurgy has not been known for its strength in the past....

Interesting how the U.S. spent billions developing the F-22 Raptor and within a few years both Russia and China come up with similar planes, and not just similar in stated capability, but similar looking as well. Guess that's what happens when you put the plans on servers that are connected to the internet. Without knowing Russia and China have similar planes, Obama canceled the F-22 Raptor after a production run of just 187 planes. Ok, I'm assuming Obama didn't know Russia and China would soon have similar planes.

So here we go again. The U.S. is developing the F-35 Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter) with strong international partnerships, which means Russia and China have the plans in real time. As with prior multi-role warplanes, the F-35 might not be particularly good at anything and if it's not a match for the Russian and Chinese equivalents of the F-22 in a dogfight then the U.S. loses air superiority for the first time in a long time.

BTW, some folks are working hard to make our electrical grid smart by interconnecting power plants, transmission lines, and loads over the internet. Does anyone else see the folly in making vital infrastructure susceptible to hacking?

The Iranians found out to their cost re the Stuxnet worm...

Excellent example. Can you imagine the U.S. being dependent on a "smart grid" when China decides to take back Taiwan. Sometimes dumb is better.

they will make one or two prototypes, and then retire the design. Of the few they produce, half will crash, the others will fail to perform as advertised.

elkhunter76

Yep...the sumbitch didn't even have 'flush rivets'! Had a radius of action of about 25 minutes only; designed to run up and shoot down our B-52! If memory serves me correctly Rudolph I. Belenko flew one to Japan...we took it apart and sent it home for analysis!

That plane isn't due to fly until about 2018.. No worry. F22 with dust it. And the F35 too.

Key point. Russians are prone to take creative license with the truth. I'm sure this vodka fueled heap is an OK plane but I highly doubt it's actual competition for our best tech.

It looks like the consensus here is that neither Russia nor China poses a threat to U.S. air superiority, and thus, Obama was correct to cancel the F-22 after a production run of just 187 planes. I'm not so sure and the U.S. has been caught with its technological pants down before.

We need more F-22s. Just because they're good doesn't mean a smattering of them will do the job.

China is graduating more engineers & scientist than American can dream of. Most are brilliant at what they do. I recently reviewed some Chinese high voltage equipment & it was state of the art. I agree Russia is a want-to-be, but my real concern is the continuing growth of China. With our staggering debt China & Japan will surpass us in a few short years. Very alarming.