Hence my WW2 disclaimer. They wouldn’t have built those if not for the convenience of having one land in their territory. Didn’t have much time to design a weapon that wasn’t directly related to beating back the Germans…
Gotta disagree. The Buran might be superficially similiar, but from my understanding, is quite a different craft. It has (well, had) no onboard engines, larger cargo capacity, and other differences. As far as missles and combat aircraft, while they may field systems in response to ours (the Su-24 to the F-111, MiG-29 and Su-27 to the F-16 and F-15), these systems are at best superficially similiar to their counterparts.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Russian gear (past the Infantry company level, lets say) is worth the metal is is made out of. Maybe they should copy us. But I don’t think one can say that they copy our systems on a widescale. Heck, they can’t, given their manufacturing system can’t keep up with their engineers.
Ditto, and what’s more, we can’t predict what shape conflict will come in … everyone here is talking about conventional wars; which no one in their right mind is going to wage against the US. Terrorism is a kind of war; so is war-by-proxy, and economic war, and “diplomatic offensive” is not always a term of rapproachment.
Lots of talk about Siberia in this Thread. Is there a history of heated dispute over Siberia? I’ve never heard any of it. Can anyone clue me in?
What about Siberia is worth fighting for? (Honest question- I simply don’t know.) Is that where Russian oil is located? Are there other valuable resources?
Since we’re just speculating anyway, I offer that one fairly good indicator of an enemy-to-be would be whatever country or countries we are supplying arms to now.
Meh, there have always been disputes over where the border is between Russia, Mongolia, and China. Nothing really heated, though. By the time Russia laid claim to it, Mongolia was declined.
Sibera is probably the largest collection of untapped natural resources on the planet. Everything from mineral mining to oil and lumber. The speculation is that in a few decades, when China has finished modernizing and Russia has restabilized, Russia will be looking very much at getting their natural resources out (they already are investing a good deal of money in Siberia), and China will be looking for resources.
China actually going after Russia is up to much debate. For one, Russia is China’s arms dealer. China has very little capability to produce its own weapons, especially not on par with Russia’s. Most of what they have is Russian surplus. China also has to keep in mind that Russia is still the second largest nuclear power. Also, with both of them being UN SC nations, you’d bet your bottom dollar that they would start WWIII, with most people siding with the invaded (Russia). Further, Russia is very attatched to Siberia - they view it as their key to the future, as their traditional land, and they kinda value Vladivostok, too, because it makes them a two-ocean power. Lastly, speaking frankly, the Chinese army couldn’t fight its way out of a wet paper bag. Even with their tremendous numbers, they still don’t have control of their west.