Since our military is being secretly dismantled, our spending priorities cannot be compared to a nation that values self defense.
I thought diversity was a good thing.
Russia is in a multi-year process of upgrading and re-equipping its armed forces. The crisis in Ukraine shows how urgent the program is and Russia cannot afford to be caught unprepared like it was in 1941.
Twenty million lives lost is all the more reason to press ahead. Its not possible to foresee where future threats may emerge but no country can afford to let down its guard.
This is the critical thing no matter how much money it costs. And the re-armament program will continue well into the future.
Just wondering. Do the ones manufacturing/assembling these planes make a decent/good living?
Pingsky.
The Russians understand one thing very well: once you give your highly skilled people no choice but to move on to other work outside the defense industry, it gets REALLY hard to bring back that skill set when you need it later.
Simple.
Vis pacem, para bellum.
Always admired the SU-27 and derivatives. The Russians know how to get the mileage out of their designs.