[sukhoi-30mki]

Soviet helicopter carrier Baku, pre-makeover. Note missile armament, guns. Photo via Wikipedia

[sukhoi-30mki]

Vikramaditya, post-makeover. Photo via Wikipedia

[X Fretensis]

I would not buy any war ship built to Soviet standards. Had an occasion to go aboard a Kara class cruiser in the early 90s before the Soviet Union folded. It was an astonishing revelation into shody workmanship and poor design. Near as I could tell the Soviet naval designers had zero regard for the concept of water tight integrity or damage control. We saw door ways through compartment bulkheads that did not have water tight doors. Cable ways through bulkheads did not have stuffing tubes, the cables just passed through large openings. No fire fighting stations on the weather decks, and no fire fighting stations in nearly all of the compartments that we were allowed in. Never did see any semblance of emergency electrical cable system. The quality of welding was abysmal. Multi-pass weld with different pass counts in the same bead. Shell plating welds with dog shit and voids in the welds. Looks like the type of welds you would see in an apprentice 101 class, and would never be tolerated in the construction of an American naval vessel. I firmly believe that we could have sunk that cruiser with 5 inch gun fire alone, provided we got within minimum missile range. Obvious the concept of the Soviet Navy was that this ship had to stay afloat just long enough to launch it’s main battery weapons, after that, Oh well. Admiral Gorshkov will gladly present the captain and crew Hero of the Soviet Union medals, posthumously.

[Enterprise]

"China denied ever exporting the firebricks."

For some reason, that's funny!

[McGruff]

India outsourcing. Isn't that a little ironic? Wonder who answers when you call for tech support. Peggy?

[McGruff]

You have problem?

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

It seems that the only factor making Russia a current threat is the fact they have "The Bomb" and possibly the means to deliver it. What a bunch of manufacturing and assembling clowns. I went to their trade show many years ago(Breznev was president) and their displayed shotgun barrels were not even deburred at the barrel opening, the stock displayed gouges that had been poorly repaired. I drew the conclusion at that time they did not have the manufacturing ability to take us on.