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A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

bbc.com

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Re: A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

#11

Post by atemerev »

ptha wrote: post #9

Hard to believe the Soviets were using vacuum tubes instead of transistors In hindsight, the MiG 25, which the West had been so worried about, turned out to be a ‘paper tiger’. Its massive radar was years behind US models because instead of transistors it used antiquated vacuum tubes (a technology that did, however, make it impervious to electromagnetic pulses from nuclear blasts). The huge engines required so much f…

We were _really_ preparing for nuclear war. While US military adopted the MAD doctrine, considering their nuclear weapons just the ultimate deterrent, Soviet generals thought that nuclear war can actually be fought — and won.

I am quite surprised that we are not living in Fallout by now.

Re: A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

#12

Post by rangibaby »

jkot wrote: post #10

> The Soviets had not built the ‘super-fighter’ the Pentagon had feared, says Smithsonian aviation curator Roger Connor, but an inflexible aircraft built to do a very particular job. There is no mention what MiG-25 was designed for. Its task was to intercept nuclear bombers flying over Soviet Union and it did this task pretty well. Because it used steel it was cheap and easy to service. At that time soviets had lot o…

I think a good lesson to learn is that primitive doesn't mean archaic. Most Soviet designs favored being cheap, hardy, and easy to maintain over using the latest or rare technology. The best example is of course the AK-47, but the same philosophy is seen throughout all of their designs. Their planes are all designed to use poorly maintained or damaged airfields, or even just dirt strips.

Re: A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

#13

Post by arethuza »

atemerev wrote: post #11
ptha wrote: post #9

Hard to believe the Soviets were using vacuum tubes instead of transistors In hindsight, the MiG 25, which the West had been so worried about, turned out to be a ‘paper tiger’. Its massive radar was years behind US models because instead of transistors it used antiquated vacuum tubes (a technology that did, however, make it impervious to electromagnetic pulses from nuclear blasts). The huge engines required so much f…

We were _really_ preparing for nuclear war. While US military adopted the MAD doctrine, considering their nuclear weapons just the ultimate deterrent, Soviet generals thought that nuclear war can actually be fought — and won. I am quite surprised that we are not living in Fallout by now.

Pretty sure the US and NATO had "flexible response" where they would have options other than MAD.

NB I'm having a binge of reading novels about WW3 scenarios in Europe at the moment, my favourite being "Chieftans" by Bob Forrest-Webb, mind you it doesn't end well.

[NB Rather hoping WoT gets to Challengers/Chieftans/M1s vs T-80s at some point...]

Re: A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

#14

Post by CatsoCatsoCatso »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #8
CatsoCatsoCatso wrote: post #5

Another very interesting aircraft is the experimental Su-47, with only one ever being built. Its forward-swept wing design make it a treat for the eye. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-47

I saw in the article they mentioned new prototypes in the near future. You think they'll have something to unveil in the next few years?

The accepted and very informed answer to to a similar question on StackOverflow concludes that it is unlikely.

http://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/2360/what-are-th...

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward-swept_wing#Return_of_t...

They do look incredibly cool though.

Re: A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

#17

Post by icegreentea »

ptha wrote: post #9

Hard to believe the Soviets were using vacuum tubes instead of transistors In hindsight, the MiG 25, which the West had been so worried about, turned out to be a ‘paper tiger’. Its massive radar was years behind US models because instead of transistors it used antiquated vacuum tubes (a technology that did, however, make it impervious to electromagnetic pulses from nuclear blasts). The huge engines required so much f…

Something to take note of was that analog systems could drive far more power than solid state systems at that time, especially given the USSR's relative backwardness in solid state electronics. It really is worth noting how montrously powerful that MiG 25's radar is. It could pump out 600kW. Western fighter radars top out in the low 10s of kW. (they went with raw power to burn through jamming).

I think the whole EMP robustness thing is overplayed everytime something like this pops up - I think that at most the EMP robustness is just a side benefit to the analog systems.

Re: A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

#18

Post by nikcub »

One big difference between Soviet technology and American - the former was designed to be cheap, rugged and to survive a nuclear war.

Unlike similar American jets, you can find Mig-25's in private hands today being maintained and flying.

It is one of the only private experiences where you can break Mach 2 and get close to 90,000' feet[0].

I love the Mig-25 - like the AK-47 there is something very admirable in a plane that is designed to both perform so well but to also be so easy to maintain and with such longevity.

[0] http://www.rusadventures.com/tour6.shtml

[1] "edge of space" flight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCVMuxx7YKY

Re: A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

#19

Post by draugadrotten »

rangibaby wrote: post #12
jkot wrote: post #10

> The Soviets had not built the ‘super-fighter’ the Pentagon had feared, says Smithsonian aviation curator Roger Connor, but an inflexible aircraft built to do a very particular job. There is no mention what MiG-25 was designed for. Its task was to intercept nuclear bombers flying over Soviet Union and it did this task pretty well. Because it used steel it was cheap and easy to service. At that time soviets had lot o…

I think a good lesson to learn is that primitive doesn't mean archaic. Most Soviet designs favored being cheap, hardy, and easy to maintain over using the latest or rare technology. The best example is of course the AK-47, but the same philosophy is seen throughout all of their designs. Their planes are all designed to use poorly maintained or damaged airfields, or even just dirt strips.

"With the MiG-25, you could take off from a grass strip, climb to FL800 and fly at Mach 3, and land on that grass strip again. Fascinating!" http://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/7485/can-jet-air...

Re: A pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet

#20

Post by digi_owl »

arethuza wrote: post #13
atemerev wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We were _really_ preparing for nuclear war. While US military adopted the MAD doctrine, considering their nuclear weapons just the ultimate deterrent, Soviet generals thought that nuclear war can actually be fought — and won. I am quite surprised that we are not living in Fallout by now.

Pretty sure the US and NATO had "flexible response" where they would have options other than MAD. NB I'm having a binge of reading novels about WW3 scenarios in Europe at the moment, my favourite being "Chieftans" by Bob Forrest-Webb, mind you it doesn't end well. [NB Rather hoping WoT gets to Challengers/Chieftans/M1s vs T-80s at some point...]

Maybe after the Cuban Crisis. But Kennedy basically had to tell his advisors to shut up, because they were slavishly following RAND's escalation policy.
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