Originally Posted by
Vitek
Totally disagree here.
First of all comparing Russian Forces today to what they were in the 90's and early 2000's is a comparison on it's own. Restructuring and rearming started I believe in 2009. Even comparing salaries pentions and benefits then and now show night and day. In the 90's pathrtic salaries (forget about pensions) weren't paid for months. Yes, salaries aren't close to UK level, but not far by purchasing power comparison.
Russian forces in late 90's vs today are different beasts no doubt. But what has the Russian Forces actually achieved in the past 30 years to support any actual performance claims in the light of majority of the goods being soviet era? Managed to shoot down a civilian airliner? Being shot down by Turkish F16? CSAR then shot down for no cover? The newest gadget may be good on paper, but what has happened to eg Armata, or why bother re-building the cold-war era Tu160's. The Su57 program hasn't been such a success it is claimed to be as it has been postponed wtih more than ten years from original dates and it is still not feasible for mass production.