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Russians Admit Their Stuff Sucks
The Stratregy Page ^ | 10/7/2010 | The Strategy Page

Posted on 10/07/2010 10:24:49 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld

The recent Russian decision to buy four Mistral amphibious assault ships from France is just the beginning. According to the Russian Defense Minister, Russia will seek more Western weapons and military equipment. Russia is planning to spend over $600 billion in the next decade to replace aging Cold War gear. The Defense Ministry insists that the Mistral deal is but the first of many. Russia already has a deal with Israel, to build a factory in Russia to build Israeli UAVs under license. This arrangement may be aborted because the Israelis apparently expect Russia to stop selling advanced weapons to Syria and Iran in return for Russo-Israeli cooperation in building weapons for Russian forces. Russia is going to the West for military gear because Russian defense industries do not produce high quality stuff. This is a difficult admission to make, but it's what the Russian Defense Minister said (and a lot of Russian military personnel believe.) While Russia is still a major supplier of arms, they produce the same old Cold War era stuff. It's cheap and reliable. But for reequipping the Russian armed forces, the Russian brass want the best. That means going to the West. This was unthinkable during the Cold War, and for two decades thereafter. But now, times have changed.

Meanwhile, Russian defense firms are fully booked, and are unable to deliver some items for long periods because of backorders. The defense industry employs nearly three million people and accounts for about 20 percent of industrial jobs in Russia. At the end of the Cold War in 1991, defense related production was more than three times what it is now. It was the large size of the defense industry that played a major role in bankrupting the Soviet Union.

(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: coldwar2; mistral; russia; russianairforce; russianarmy; russianmilitary

1 posted on 10/07/2010 10:24:53 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
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To: ErnstStavroBlofeld

They never should have let the Red October defect to the West...


2 posted on 10/07/2010 10:28:52 PM PDT by miliantnutcase
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To: miliantnutcase
They never should have let the Red October defect to the West...

Or invaded Europe. Or had to fight the Chinese in Siberia.

That Tom Clancy, he's such a card!

3 posted on 10/07/2010 10:32:15 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (The presidential seal is the one thing Obama forgot to screw up.)
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To: miliantnutcase

“Andrei, you’ve lost another submarine?”


4 posted on 10/07/2010 10:33:19 PM PDT by dfwgator (Texas Rangers - AL West Champions)
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To: 1COUNTER-MORTER-68; Mr. Mojo; James C. Bennett; mowowie; Captain Beyond; darkwing104; JRios1968; ...

Ping


5 posted on 10/07/2010 10:54:08 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
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To: ErnstStavroBlofeld

Their stuff has always sucked, they just make so much of it that numbers make up for quality. Even the famous T34 was quickly surpassed by the Tiger, TigerII, Panther, and even the later model MkIV. But the USSR built 50,000 T-34s, so they could afford to lose 5 tanks for every German one. Same ratio as the Sherman.


6 posted on 10/08/2010 12:26:44 AM PDT by ozzymandus
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To: ozzymandus

‘Quantity has it’s own quality’


7 posted on 10/08/2010 3:00:27 AM PDT by brooklin
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To: ozzymandus

Check the T-34’s weight against the Tiger’s or the Panther’s. Check which quality problems the nazi had at Stalingrad and what were the reasons of their tank losses.


8 posted on 10/08/2010 3:30:59 AM PDT by Freelance Warrior (A Russian.)
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To: ErnstStavroBlofeld
It was the large size of the defense industry that played a major role in bankrupting the Soviet Union.

No, it was communism that bankrupted them. In all of history military spending leads to new technology that leads to wealth. In the USA, military spending on robotics is one thing that could possibly lead to us avoiding bankruptcy from socialism.

9 posted on 10/08/2010 3:49:37 AM PDT by Reeses (Pull Plugs and flush the four flusher.)
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To: ozzymandus
later model MkIV.

Adding bolt on armor without adding HP is a bad mistake....

Many Panzer units removed the bolt on armor so the mk IV could actually climb a hill.

10 posted on 10/08/2010 4:07:24 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed, and I do not give a damn.)
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To: ozzymandus

A Panzer leader once said that it took ten Shermans to kill one Panzer, but there was always an eleventh Sherman.


11 posted on 10/08/2010 5:09:12 AM PDT by AceMineral (Clam down!)
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To: AceMineral

Never heard that one but love it.


12 posted on 10/08/2010 5:18:37 AM PDT by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: wally_bert

Unless one was a Sherman crew.


13 posted on 10/08/2010 7:04:38 AM PDT by dusttoyou (Let the other side get all wee-wee'd up, Remember come November)
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To: ErnstStavroBlofeld
They have always had the capacity to produce quality because they stole quality expertise, Ruski Mil equipment shoddiness drives primarily from “forced craftsmanship” or like the saying “close enough for government work” personified.
14 posted on 10/08/2010 7:12:25 AM PDT by dusttoyou (Let the other side get all wee-wee'd up, Remember come November)
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To: ErnstStavroBlofeld

This (the Israeli UAV’s) could be the reason that Russia canceled the S-300 sale to Iran.


15 posted on 10/09/2010 5:40:40 PM PDT by Thunder90 (Fighting for truth and the American way... http://citizensfortruthandtheamericanway.blogspot.com/)
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