Correct.
Over here, we are corrupted by Western Propaganda which of course always states how bad the other guy is and how good the Western stuff is.
It is only since the Berlin Wall came down – and ruined the whole Defence industry – that the West has actually gained any significant lead against the Soviets.
If the wall hadn’t come down and Russia had continued with it’s old defence policy, it would be ahead still.
Some of the greatest scientists on the planet were involved in the Soviet Defence work, do you think they made products that would not do the job?
It was the west that was always chasing to get a product that would overmatch the latest Soviet threat. Russia kept making stuff, the West made something to beat it. Never the other way round.
1st Satellite, 1st man in space (Met him as he toured the factory I used to work at), 1st spacewalk. It was only at this point that JFK decided to pump Gazzillions of dollars into the US space race that this possible threat was overmatched.
I wish it was still like that, because our defence spending and our defence force would actually be superb, all the research and employment would return.
As it is, we cannot justify more than a few air and a few less sea platforms and as soon as we want to replace a Submarine, the pinko’s are actually allowed to have a say. They’d sooner spend the money on a new town twinning campaign.

That and other crappy pinko stuff like infrastucture, schools and hospitals…

It’s really not clear to me what the question is here.

The one thing I can’t see having changed since the Cold War is the idea of deterrence – so, to that extent, sealordlawrence has said it all with his Trident comment.

The Atlantic (or any other) exercises are a total irrelevance. The whole world knows that nobody is lining up to attack Russia and that all this arrant nonsense is just for gullible Russian public opinion.

The Russians, similarly, aren’t about to mount a conventional, seaborne invasion of the UK, US or wherever.

I imagine most western military strategists are observing the whole thing with a degree of amused detachment – as, quite likely, is Putin himself.

It’s a publicity stunt.

Ooh goody!

Maybe we’ll see them back at Kemble!!

Somehow my memory must be playing me tricks.

The Mirage IV was actually a front line bird and the TSR2 made it well past the drawing board, no?

Where’s the ‘what if’ in all this?

It was meant to be ironic, friend!

Problems and difficulties tend to be insurmountable.

Truths, on the other hand, tend to be undeniable or irrefutable – unless of course you come from the same school that turned out such worthies as Osama Bin Laden and GW Bush…

I have no axe to grind against the Hawk, despite posting a thread some time ago which debated whether the design was now ageing.

It seems to me to be a tried and tested beast and merits its place amongst the world’s top trainers.

India could scarcely do better.

Off topic, I know, but pics like these remind me of how truly gobsmacking a design this bird was. Stunning.