[Wallace T.]

Putin may well be bluffing. During World War II and the Cold War, American technology was decades ahead of the Soviets. The USSR military and civilian sectors relied on technology bought or stolen from the West. (Refer to Antony Sutton's books from the 1970s.) However, do we still have the edge in technology after 30 years of military decline? The younger Bush spent a lot of money on Middle East wars. Clinton, Obama, and Biden were/are more concerned with social engineering rather than military strength. Trump was not in office long enough to reverse the decay.

The Russians are not living up to their boasts as evidenced in their Ukrainian invasion. However, it is questionable that the U.S. and NATO military forces would be successful in a confrontation with Russia.

[OldWarBaby]

The Russians have never acknowledged that they fought WW II with the Studebaker trucks we gave them. Try and find a picture of one in Russia.

[laplata]

Good post. You know your stuff.

The European NATO countries are pretty useless. The UK, for instance, could only field two divisions.

After the first Gulf War, the Russians said they were glad they didn’t have to fight us because of our superiority in all areas. Now it’s a different story, as you say.

[Cronos]

The USA has not had a quality decline, just a decline in number of troops.

The USA navy is bigger, better equipped and more advanced than the rest of the world’s navies COMBINED.

The USA air force is generations ahead of Russia or China’s efforts.

In artillery, the Russians are only slightly behind technically but are far behind in terms of capacity and production capabilities.