IndianNewbie
New Member
Hi,
First of all apologies, if the post is in the wrong forum. I have been reading the entries in the various forums on this site for over a week now and well, it has been an enlightening experience.
I just had a few questions.
1.) I have often read posts with moderators (and I respect them for their knowledge) urging people to include the source link.
At the same time, I have read them stating that "Russia does not have this technology" etc... Now perhaps they mean that it is either economically not feasible for them or that they do not have the technical know-how at the point in time.
Now I am not a defence expert, just an enthusiast. And so I really would like to know the source of such statements. No I do not disagree with them but I do not entirely agree also. Let me cite a few examples.
a.) Western media (and particularly US media) is very market savvy. Skylab was actually a failure but it was projected as a great success. Mir project outlived its utility but was played down by the media the world over. So traditionally Russians have not been as market savvy as their western counterparts. Perhaps it might seem a wrong example but I think it's an important point.
b.) Russians are secretive about every new technology they have. What you don't know does not exist, is not really true in their case. They are so secretive, that they won't even refute some claims from the western media. My brother-in-law was part of the submarine project(ATV) and was stationed in Russia for quite a few years. A brilliant graduate from IIT (the top engineering institutes in India and amongst the very best in the world) and post Graduate from some univ in UK, he acknowledged that Indian scientists were at bay trying to understand the design papers from the Russians. He admitted ATV is big farce (apparently the way the design of the hull is proceeding is something that will eventually fail and more money can be minted, if I remember the 4 year old conversation correctly) and India does not have the political will to complete it anytime soon. Suffice to say that he had very high regards for Soviet/Russian technology. Now it could be that his high opinion were not really of good standards but I hope you see my point.
c.) This one is from source I can not seem to remember. So if it is unrealiable so be it. But I will still state it though there could be mistakes as it was a very long time back. It had to do with a Russian defector who was an expert in sub's movements. And he showed in an exercise to CIA guys how the (ahhh and I remember the source now. It was Reader's digest's (dont believe it???) publication on some people who have been suspiciously missing and people suspect CIA is behind it all), sub Russian sub (the actual US with him on board) remained undetected while perhaps 2 or 3 other US subs were detected by him. Something of that sort. Sounds like a fairy tale but I have tried to be as accurate as I could.
2.) I read about the Cobra maneuver of Sukhoi being called a gimmick (perhaps they really are but then perhaps they have some use afterall) very often. My question here is, are the Russians really so stupid that they would invest millions in something that the whole world calls a gimmick? Perhaps they are not tested in war time. Fair enough. But perhaps Russians might know something the whole world might not? I mean, yes BVR battle might seem the order of the day, but who has the US been fighting? Iraq, Afganistan? I mean if it came to a full blown up war with a decent power, lets say Russians in this case, Russians will only have to fire their nuclear missiles. So won't it (and it is really a question from my side), all boil down to some close combat because no side would want to make it a nuclear war.
I hope I have not offended anyone here by expressing my thoughts. And I hope this is really the right forum. If it is not please do let me know.
Lastly, I might sound like advocating the Russian cause lol but that was really not the intention.
Hoping to get your views on it.
Thanks.
Indian newbie.
First of all apologies, if the post is in the wrong forum. I have been reading the entries in the various forums on this site for over a week now and well, it has been an enlightening experience.
I just had a few questions.
1.) I have often read posts with moderators (and I respect them for their knowledge) urging people to include the source link.
At the same time, I have read them stating that "Russia does not have this technology" etc... Now perhaps they mean that it is either economically not feasible for them or that they do not have the technical know-how at the point in time.
Now I am not a defence expert, just an enthusiast. And so I really would like to know the source of such statements. No I do not disagree with them but I do not entirely agree also. Let me cite a few examples.
a.) Western media (and particularly US media) is very market savvy. Skylab was actually a failure but it was projected as a great success. Mir project outlived its utility but was played down by the media the world over. So traditionally Russians have not been as market savvy as their western counterparts. Perhaps it might seem a wrong example but I think it's an important point.
b.) Russians are secretive about every new technology they have. What you don't know does not exist, is not really true in their case. They are so secretive, that they won't even refute some claims from the western media. My brother-in-law was part of the submarine project(ATV) and was stationed in Russia for quite a few years. A brilliant graduate from IIT (the top engineering institutes in India and amongst the very best in the world) and post Graduate from some univ in UK, he acknowledged that Indian scientists were at bay trying to understand the design papers from the Russians. He admitted ATV is big farce (apparently the way the design of the hull is proceeding is something that will eventually fail and more money can be minted, if I remember the 4 year old conversation correctly) and India does not have the political will to complete it anytime soon. Suffice to say that he had very high regards for Soviet/Russian technology. Now it could be that his high opinion were not really of good standards but I hope you see my point.
c.) This one is from source I can not seem to remember. So if it is unrealiable so be it. But I will still state it though there could be mistakes as it was a very long time back. It had to do with a Russian defector who was an expert in sub's movements. And he showed in an exercise to CIA guys how the (ahhh and I remember the source now. It was Reader's digest's (dont believe it???) publication on some people who have been suspiciously missing and people suspect CIA is behind it all), sub Russian sub (the actual US with him on board) remained undetected while perhaps 2 or 3 other US subs were detected by him. Something of that sort. Sounds like a fairy tale but I have tried to be as accurate as I could.
2.) I read about the Cobra maneuver of Sukhoi being called a gimmick (perhaps they really are but then perhaps they have some use afterall) very often. My question here is, are the Russians really so stupid that they would invest millions in something that the whole world calls a gimmick? Perhaps they are not tested in war time. Fair enough. But perhaps Russians might know something the whole world might not? I mean, yes BVR battle might seem the order of the day, but who has the US been fighting? Iraq, Afganistan? I mean if it came to a full blown up war with a decent power, lets say Russians in this case, Russians will only have to fire their nuclear missiles. So won't it (and it is really a question from my side), all boil down to some close combat because no side would want to make it a nuclear war.
I hope I have not offended anyone here by expressing my thoughts. And I hope this is really the right forum. If it is not please do let me know.
Lastly, I might sound like advocating the Russian cause lol but that was really not the intention.
Hoping to get your views on it.
Thanks.
Indian newbie.