Aha!

They will buy the buddy-buddy refuelling pack for the Su-30MKM and use IT as a combined escort/tanker for the Super Hornets- after all its got a lot of internal fuel…

Well theres some basic stuff on my Russian Avionics page:

http://www.overscan.co.uk/Avionics.html

Bbut ECM is one of the most secret areas of avionics.

Gunston was a big believer in V/STOL because of the danger of Soviet missiles/aircraft/special forces taking out our aircraft and airbases.

I don’t think that V/STOL is a solution for anti-American states today however. You can’t contend air superiority, and for striking at remote locations there are better lower tech solutions like cruise missiles or IRBMs. Plus, who would you buy a V/STOL aircraft from?

Actually, the air force has suffered very badly in post-Soviet funding. It used to get 16% of the budget, but the PVO (air defence SAMs and aircraft) was funded separately. The airforce and PVO were merged, but the funding remained at 16% of the budget, meaning it is even worse funded than other branches of the armed forces.