Originally Posted by
_Agrajag_
Sure the USSR was behind in many technical areas but they were very, very good at producing simple, reliable and long-lasting kit. I was a small part of a team that took apart some captured Soviet comms kit in the late 1970's. Crude but tough and reliable. The thing that stood out to me, as a maintainer and repairer of our kit, was that their kit was designed to be repaired quickly with a minimum of tools and test gear.
Sure things have fallen off a cliff over the past 30 years because of theft and corruption mostly. I'd not write off Russia's technical competence though. Some of the most reliable and effective weapons are Russian/Soviet. It's not an accident that the AK-47 is the most popular assault rifle in the world. The bloody thing is now over 70 years old yet there are millions of them still in service. Give me a choice between an AK-47 and our own bit of complete and total ****, the SA80 and I'd put up with the extra weight of the AK and it's ammo. If only because it works and doesn't jam.
Soviet stuff back then was throw away stuff. They used mass produced APC guns for fighters with no replaceable and repairable parts. Jet engines with low hours until replacement. Compare this to western fighter guns or engines. Every bit like barrels can be replaced and repaired. The soviets had strategic fronts. If one was used up they moved the next into the theatre.
Eastern stuff is expendable and
not made to last. It is cheapo mass produced and will be replaced instead of being repaired.