# Do all enemies of the USA use Russian/ Soviet weapons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153 "2014-10-13T00:20:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/1 "2014-10-13T00:20:30Z")
It seems like they all do, except for domestic terrorists. In pretty much any news coverage of conflicts involving US military, the “bad guys” use AK-47s. There were rumors ISIS had Migs. A lot of North Korea’s weapons are based off of old Soviet stuff, if they aren’t actual rusting Soviet weapons. Did Russia arm these guys, or did criminals just steal them to put on the black market after the Soviet Union collapsed? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/2 "2014-10-13T01:35:14Z")
The United States and Russia are the two largest arms exporting countries. Many other countries have significant but smaller industries, like China, France, the UK, Germany, Italy, and Israel. Anyway, it stands to reason that if the US won’t sell a country weapons, then they’ll have to go to a different source. Russia is the largest seller and they certainly don’t have the same security interests as the US and the EU. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/3 "2014-10-13T01:40:32Z")
AK-47s may have been invented in Russia, but they are made [all over the place now](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47#Production_outside_of_the_Soviet_Union.2FRussia), including in countries that are staunch American allies (or client states) such as Israel. They are widely used and widely made because they are are a very good, reliable, and relatively cheap to make, type of rifle. Use of them, these days, no more indicates Soviet or Russian influence than the use around around the world of technologies largely invented in America, such as electronic computers and televisions, indicates that a country where they are in use is an American ally or client. It is no surprise if a lot of North Korean weaponry is old Soviet stuff, or derives from Soviet designs. They were a Soviet client state, and being so poor and badly run, have scarcely had much ability since that time to develop anything much that is very different. (No doubt they have got stuff from China too, but a lot of that probably also traces back to Soviet designs back when the Soviets and Red China were allies.) If Isis have MIGs, it is probably because they found some old ones lying around from the cold war days when the Soviets helped arm some of the states in the region, but it is not because present day Russia is arming Isis now - though they may be arming some of the many parties to the Syrian conflict, and some of that stuff may have fallen into Isis hands by now. (If anything, Russia is more afraid of militant Islam than America is. They have the Chechens to worry about.) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/4 "2014-10-13T01:48:47Z")
Iran has F-14s. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/5 "2014-10-13T01:54:09Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Iran has F-14s. They have thirty year old bits of scrap, shaped like F-14’s. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/6 "2014-10-13T01:56:12Z")
Some of ISIS’ looted equipment is “Made in the USA” ---
**Author:** ![Toastmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Toastmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toastmaker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/7 "2014-10-13T02:13:57Z")
For many decades Russia and eastern bloc nations flooded the international arms market with inexpensive small arms of all types. This is why you see the ubiquitous AK’s, RPG’s and MiG and Sukhoi variations in many country’s arsenals. Experts estimate that the Iranians have only three flyable F-14’s remaining. They are obsolete" A" models. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/8 "2014-10-13T02:24:08Z")
> [@Toastmaker](#): > > For many decades Russia and eastern bloc nations flooded the international arms market with inexpensive small arms of all types. This is why you see the ubiquitous AK’s, RPG’s and MiG and Sukhoi variations in many country’s arsenals. Unlike America and other NATO countries, you mean? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/9 "2014-10-13T02:48:51Z")
It’s really two questions: 1. Has any foreign army fought by the US used US/Western weapons? I can’t think of any but that would only mean it just hasn’t happened. No US vs. US off the top of my head, but there was Western vs. Western. The Falklands War would’ve been one of these, right? 2. Have any terrorist, paramilitary, or irregular force used US weapons? They take whatever they can get their hands on. But normally you don’t want to drive an expensive rare foreign car unless you have the wherewithal to buy replacement parts. So they would default to the more common AK etc. platform. Ammo is more plentiful, as are parts or purchase on an open market (I believe many ISIS types have to supply their own weapon). NATO weapons are generally much more expensive. So yes, possible, but probably rare. Some Western-type weapons were used in Communist nations, e.g. Zastava M76. But that was because Yugoslavia was not friendly with Moscow but had at least an understanding with the west. Conspiracy theories aside, I doubt Russia has any current interests beyond arms they supplied being spoils of war. They don’t worry as much about which side to help. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/10 "2014-10-13T03:33:06Z")
Yes, the Falkland conflict featured many “Western” weapons used against each other, especially the most famous, the French-made Exocet missiles. Of course, once the conflict began France refused to resupply the Argentines with any more missiles and even blocked a sale to Peru for fear that the missiles would be diverted to Argentina. Which goes to show that it’s better to get your weapons from countries not allied with your most likely opponent. Similarly, the Russians have leveraged their role as arms supplier to the Assad regime and supplied some helicopters but delayed others. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/11 "2014-10-13T04:15:25Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > It’s really two questions: > > 1. Has any foreign army fought by the US used US/Western weapons? I can’t think of any but that would only mean it just hasn’t happened. No US vs. US off the top of my head, but there was Western vs. Western. The Falklands War would’ve been one of these, right? Also, the Iraqi Air Force had French as well as Soviet fighters in Desert Storm. And up to the '67 war, many of Israel’s Arab adversaries fielded British- or French-legacy arms and matériel, while Israel had a lot of French equipment. > [@](#): > > 1. Have any terrorist, paramilitary, or irregular force used US weapons? They take whatever they can get their hands on. But normally you don’t want to drive an expensive rare foreign car unless you have the wherewithal to buy replacement parts. The Nicaraguan Sandinistas in the uprising against Somoza in 1977-79 used a lot of American weaponry and gear channeled in from stocks recently captured in the fall of South Vietnam. This was sensible in this case as they would be able to use ammo and supplies captured from the government forces. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/12 "2014-10-13T05:09:55Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > se of them, these days, no more indicates Soviet or Russian influence than the use around around the world of technologies largely invented in America, such as electronic computers and televisions, indicates that a country where they are in use is an American ally or client. Is this still true given the use of NATO-compatible arms and ammunition shared between like-minded nations? ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/13 "2014-10-13T06:36:41Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > It seems like they all do, except for domestic terrorists. In pretty much any news coverage of conflicts involving US military, the “bad guys” use AK-47s. There were rumors ISIS had Migs. A lot of North Korea’s weapons are based off of old Soviet stuff, if they aren’t actual rusting Soviet weapons. Did Russia arm these guys, or did criminals just steal them to put on the black market after the Soviet Union collapsed? ISIS got their MiGs, if they got them, by capturing them from the Syrian Air Force. Syria was a Soviet client state throughout the Cold War. North Korea was a Soviet and Chinese client state during the Cold War, and a lot of Chinese military hardware until very recently was reverse engineered from Soviet military hardware after the Sino-Soviet Schism during the Cold War and even where there are differences they are often indistinguishable to the layman. Something that can’t be emphasized enough about the AK-47 though is that it is by far the most widely manufactured assault rifle in history. More Kalashnikovs have been built than the sum total of all other kinds of assault rifles combined. From [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47): > [@](#): > > Even after six decades the model and its variants remain the most popular and widely used assault rifles in the world because of their substantial reliability even under harsh conditions, low production costs compared to contemporary Western weapons, availability in virtually every geographic region and ease of use. The AK-47 has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as irregular forces worldwide, and was the basis for developing many other types of individual and crew-served firearms. More AK-type rifles have been produced than all other assault rifles combined. Number built is listed as ~75 million AK-47s, 100 million Kalashnikov-family weapons. By way of comparison, total production of rifles of the [M-16 family](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M16_rifle) are only ~8 million. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > It’s really two questions: > > 1. Has any foreign army fought by the US used US/Western weapons? I can’t think of any but that would only mean it just hasn’t happened. No US vs. US off the top of my head, but there was Western vs. Western. The Falklands War would’ve been one of these, right? The NLF in Vietnam, which used large numbers of US supplied weapons captured from the ARVN. You could probably find US manufactured small arms in the hands of any insurgent group that the US has fought since. [Operation Praying Mantis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Praying_Mantis), the largest of the fights between the US and Iran during the Iran-Iraq War carried out in retaliation for Iranian mining in the Persian Gulf was the first time the US Navy was involved in an exchange of anti-ship missiles; the missiles used by both sides were of US manufacture. The Iranian fast attack craft _Joshan_ fired a Harpoon anti-ship missile at the USS _Wainwright_. Iraq had a substantial amount of French and British hardware during Desert Storm in 1991, and in 1987 the USS _Stark_ was struck by two French made Exocet anti-ship missiles launched by a French made Iraqi Mirage F1 in error. The Falklands definitely falls into a Western vs. Western category; most of the Argentinean Navy was former US Navy vessels as was its Air Force. Though probably better remembered for losses to Exocets, most of the Royal Navy’s losses occurred in Bomb Alley to US built A-4 Skyhawks dropping US made Mk82 and Mk83 bombs. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/14 "2014-10-13T08:06:51Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And up to the '67 war, many of Israel’s Arab adversaries fielded British- or French-legacy arms and matériel, while Israel had a lot of French equipment. British, too. The Centurion tank served as the backbone of the Israeli Armored Corps until well into the 1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/15 "2014-10-13T13:39:23Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > The Falklands definitely falls into a Western vs. Western category; most of the Argentinean Navy was former US Navy vessels as was its Air Force. Indeed the ARA General Belgrano, sunk by HMS Conqueror during the war, served in World War II as USS Phoenix, where she survived the Pearl Harbour attack. ---
**Author:** ![Toastmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Toastmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toastmaker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/16 "2014-10-13T15:21:25Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Unlike America and other NATO countries, you mean? :rolleyes: Oh, no. . we try to compete just as briskly but our stuff costs more - from bullets to bombs the Russians (and their knock-offs) have us beat in price. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/17 "2014-10-13T15:55:25Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Indeed the ARA General Belgrano, sunk by HMS Conqueror during the war, served in World War II as USS Phoenix, where she survived the Pearl Harbour attack. And the aircraft carrier ARA 25 de Mayo was a UK-made ex-RN, ex-Dutch ship (only had a small participation in the early stages of the conflict and never returned to full operation). The other two major ARA surface combatants at the time were two Type-42 guided missile destroyers whose type also served in the RN in the war (two of the UK’s were lost). ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/18 "2014-10-13T18:26:45Z")
And both sides in the Falklands used basically the same rifle. The Argentinian version had full automatic which the British version lacked so were quite popular with the British soldiers who captured them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/19 "2014-10-13T20:01:56Z")
> [@bryanmaguire](#): > > And both sides in the Falklands used basically the same rifle. The Argentinian version had full automatic which the British version lacked so were quite popular with the British soldiers who captured them. That also sounds like a real recipe for drawing “friendly” fire from another Brit squad that didn’t know your lot was using captured rifles. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153/20 "2014-10-13T21:13:52Z")
> [@Toastmaker](#): > > Oh, no. . we try to compete just as briskly but our stuff costs more - from bullets to bombs the Russians (and their knock-offs) have us beat in price. America is Apple, Russia is PC. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-enemies-of-the-usa-use-russian-soviet-weapons/701153.md?page=2)