iM MORE WORRIED ABOUT RUSSIA SELLING THERE SU'S AND FUTURE MIG 1.44'S TO THESE SMALL COUNTRIES THAT HATE US. THERE BUILDING AN ECONOMY OFF OF THERE CURENT AND FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES. BASICLY THEY CAN CREAT SO MANY FRIENDS ACCROSS THE WORLD THAT IF WE DID GO TO WAR WE'LL BE FIGHTING NOT ONLY RUSSIA, BUT ALSO ALL THE SUROUNDING SMALL COUNTREIS (VENEZUELA, HINT. HINT.) WE CANT FIGHT EVERY BODY (NOT TO MENTION CHINA AND NORTH KOREA INCLUDED AND DONT FORGET THEY'RE BUYING SU'S TO AND GOD KNOWS WHAT ELSE) THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I completely agree with you. Since the cold war they have been selling off all of the unused weapons to 3rd world countries. And they are doing to create allies so that they can eventually overpower us. yet i cant blame them because we did the same thing when Russia was fighting Afghanistan. The US supplied Afghanistan guerrilas with weapons and trained them to fight. Where do you think Osama Bin Laden got his start, with us.

You have a pretty good perspective on the subject. People Will disagree with a lot of this, and these are just my opinions. But they are the result of a lot of reading and experience. And my opinion is that any confrontation would be much like the Cuban Missile Crisis, a good old Mexican Standoff. Both sides are simply too tough.

As far as air power goes, the Russians do have some formidable aircraft. But there is a reason the USA has an unchallenged air force:-->track record. Also to be considered is the fact that American aircraft have been squaring off against comparable Russian aircraft for half a century now, always with discouraging results for the Russian aircraft.

Enough flag waving though. Why would this question even be considered? The air force is just about to become as obsolete as the calvary. Lasers and other ray type weapons are coming out of the woodwork every day. They can be deployed on items like ... satellites for instance. Future versions will be able to either focus on a pinpoint precision target, or fan out like an umbrella. And much of this already a reality, deployment is the next phase. Once that happens an aircraft will be one of the least survivable of all military vehicles. Maybe this is why we are suddenly spending so much on the development of a cloaking device? Or maybe trekkies are just bored.

For those that think nukes wouldn't be involved in the initial conflict? If it were to happen, and the first incident were a naval one, there could very easily be an exchange of tactical nukes. There is very little consequence for the use of nukes in a maritime environment.

But one thing you were right on the mark about; the superpowers definitely don't want to be adversaries any more than they already are in today's world. We all already have more issues than we need to deal with. The biggest thing to worry about in this area is the rumored goal of Al Qaeda, which would be to involve China and the western powers in a major war.

As far as bragging rights about Russia and the USA? Both countries have formidable and capable armed forces. Absolutely no one wants to see the proof of a definitive answer to this one.

Money, people that is what it comes down to. The Mig 1.4 and Su 37 are awesome demonstrator aircraft, but they do not have the money to pursue the production process. It is known that russia is in the process of rebuilding their airforce and I believe they are using Mig 29's and completely upgrading the avionics and installing thrust vectoring however... Remember this fact the F-35 and F-22 technology is over 20 years old. The technology was developed in the 1980's. Look up Advanced Tacticle Fighter Program and now all these countries are just now working on their own similar programs.

both sides have lethal aircraft, JSF, raptors, eagles against flankers, terminators (Su-37) and Berkuts. Speaking of which, why doesn't it have thrust vectors?

hey dont give me that crap. . I dun give a &*#% about the russians but their aircrafts are far more manuverable than wat u guys got. compare su-27 against f-15 or mig 29 against f-16. Those American Aircrafts make be equipped with the best weapon system or avoinics in the world but when it comes to dog fight u guys are always hunted. If we are talkin about BVR combat then Iam pretty sure the Americans will kick anybody's &*# at any given time but as far as dog fights are concerned, nobody can kick red star's &*#. Su-37 terminator for an instance, it may not be stealthy like F-22 but if F-22 has to dog fight Su-37 in pilot's visual range, its screwed. so keep ur yankke attitude there in the burrow and dont ever tell me that the russian aircrafts are nuthin but a piece of junk. to be honest with u guys, chinese airforce equipped with mig-19 is a piece of junk. but if it was 50 yrs ago they would be kickin some american &*#

Have you ever witnessed the capabilities of the F/A-22 and the SU-37. I have, and for a technology demonstrator the Su-37 is incredible however the F/A-22 is just as maneuverable if not more maneuverable than the Su-37 and untill the the Terminator is a production aircraft then we will never find out which is best, will we.

I would like to point out that as of now, Russia's military is LESS THAN 30% PROFFESIONAL RATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our people are better trained, we have better equipment, a better infrastructure, and overall a better military.

Also, Russia has pretty much a non-existant Navy with few ships most of which are out dated or in moth balls.

So, in the end Russia is no threat to the U.S.

Are they still a conscript military, I haven't even thought of that.

Not that I am aware of, but who knows, I mean the whole ex-KGB Colonel who is running the country kinda scares me sometimes, plus you have to have done some pretty dirty stuff to become a Col in the KGB, so that is just dandy..........