Please i hope you are kidding Appy Pappy! The russian 'stuff' that the US faced in Iraq was OLD. A T-72 is not the frontline russian tank (the T-95 is and even American experts agree it is better than the M1-abrams). The Mig-29's that were shot down by f-16s were flown by inept Iraqi pilots, they also lacked complex combat suites, and furthermore were denied reliable information networks due to the good ol' american wildweasles and their radar busting missiles. However, i was not refering to old russian antiques flown by the iraqis. I was refering to ultra-modern russian fighters like the Su 37 (not to be confused with the russian stealth fighter S-37 Berkrut, which is even better), and to the latest military hardware and software. And yes, i know someone will come and say that there is not chance of a major confrontation between the ruskies and the US, however the russians have been selling this stuff to the Chinese (and there are joint contracts to build the new Mig-MAPO, which coincidentally is a stealth fighter meant to negate the threat of american F-22s.....not the JSF since it is by far much better). What will happen if China attacks Taiwan and the US is forced to enter into the fray due to treaties?
And if you think that the russian stuff is a pile of junk then why is the russian Havoc/alligator attack copter rated the best in the world, why is the T-95 main battle tank also given top honors, why did the sukhoi 33 'beat' american f-15s in a demonstration dog fight, and why do some russian subs have the capability to attack planes subs and ships simultaneously. And then there is the nuclear attack force with hardware like the Topol-M that was designed to be manouevrable, and to beat american ballistic defense systems.
Thank God up to now the US has faced 3rd world nations with antiques for weapons, but what happens if some crazy loony in china decides he wants to vacation in Taiwan, or Pakistan and India get into a fray? It is nice to be patriotic and stuff, however one has to be realistic at the same time.
Face it, the Russian stuff is unproven. It may look great on paper but the T-72/T-80 was supposed to be unbeatable in the 80's when the M-1 was produced and the Iraqis were battle-tested troops.
Russian planes make great acrobats but that doesn't win battles.