[Mr. Silverback]

You're missing the point. For the most part, North Korean pilots driving the MiG-15 were a joke, and the Chinese guys not a whole lot better. But Mother Russia supplied a number of experienced pilots, some of whom were aces from WWII, to drive some of those MiGs. Though our guys were better, the Russians acquitted themselves well...Fedorets, for example. And let's not forget that this scheme was common knowledge. When you go canopy to canopy with a guy and see a pair of bushy red eyebrows on him, you know you aren't dealing with a Chinese fighter pilot.

The Russians could very easily put Russina crews in those boats and Russian pilots in those Sukhois. Would that make them the biggest threat on the planet? No. Would they be a joke? Heck no.

[patton]

Consider this - a Kilo could smuggle stuff into the USA for YEARS, without being detected.

[Edgerunner]

As usual, you have a point and I got the point. It's just that It is difficult to see the Russians giving up talent from their own navy to play chicken with a Seawolf or an LA class. They would do that with their own boats. They may train the crew, but I doubt they want any Russians killed in an incident that Hugo would dream up. The Russian boats were once part of the Russian navy, and were hunted by our boys, so they know how to hunt them. They may get a surprise shot off, but once we start to hunt them...they're toast. The Russians haven't been able to float a full sized navy as in the old days, so they aren't as sharp as in the Cold War days. While we should realize that our crews are well trained and very practiced, stealth is slipping away as technology advances, and there is new low frequency sonar and computer imaging passive sonar coming online.

That said, however; in war, to underestimate ones enemy is to die.

Thanx for thew back and forth. I ain't a Navy expert, but I do follow the Navy more than other services.