Hacker News Reader

Comment by madeuptempacct | Hacker News Reader

It is generally accepted that the USSR/Russia is more iterative in weapons development, while trying crazy one offs now and again (high speed, high depth, double-hull titanium submarines, supercavitating torpedoes, plasma stealth, 3D-thrust-vectoring on fighters, PESA radar on the MIG31, etc, etc). They keep what sticks, for example high off-bore, helmet queued IR-missile targeting on the MIG-29 (it took a while for the US AIM-9 to catch up), but go for the cheaper versions on everything else.

While it is a budgetary necessity now, it simply "worked" in the past.

The same can't really be said for their rockets though, Musk is going to "crush them" to quote our friend Khruschev, and then Russia has no technological lead left, at all. Maybe niches in cybersecurity and new nuclear power generators, but that seems to be about it. Tragic really.

View on HN

There is one other area of their economy that has gotten interesting in the last decade. Thanks to a leap in modernization, their wheat production doubled over ~15 years and it looks set to continue expanding. They have the potential to be a considerable agriculture power.

Their oil industry, which used to be towering, is 'only' worth about the annual sales of Apple, or Google + Microsoft. With their current approach to political leadership, it's hard to imagine where the economic growth is going to come from to enable them to devote a lot more resources to their non-military space industry.

It's good to hear about wheat production - that wasn't exactly going well for them after losing Ukraine.

"Their oil industry, which used to be towering, is 'only' worth about the annual sales of Apple, or Google + Microsoft. "

This isn't a good thing though. There is no credit to be given here - it causes an over-reliance on oil prices, and any time there is a market crash, they slash budgets. Pretty horrible.

"With their current approach to political leadership, it's hard to imagine where the economic growth is going to come from to enable them to devote a lot more resources to their non-military space industry."

Yea, I actually think Putin did a good thing in cleaning up low level corruption. But for some delusional reason I thought he would invest in education, tech, and small business once he reduced some corruption at the low level. That never happened. Pretty disappointing.

> IR-missile targeting on the MIG-29 (it took a while for the US AIM-9 to catch up)

AIM-9L (first type with IR/Laser) started producing in 1977. First MiG-29 flight was in 1977 (and I highly doubt that they had IR-missile targeting at that time).

Where's 'took a while' actually?

The AIM-9 had way less off-bore capability and could not be helmet aimed like the missile of the MIG-29. The US did not catch up on helmet-queued missiles. US pilots were stunned by the MIG-29s ability to win dog fights when they tested the plane in Germany. Hopefully I gave you enough to google.

"From 1969 the SEAM was incorporated in the F-4J and enabled the missile to be locked on a target off boresight slaving the missile's seeker head to the aircraft radar. "

1969 was way before MiG-29 first flight.

If you google enough, you might also find that there were experimental elicopter models of targeting helmets as well. In the meantime, you might want to concede that the Russians had a better system in this regard.

Straight from Wikipedia:

VTAS received praise[by whom?] for its effectiveness in targeting off-boresight missiles, but the U.S. did not pursue fielding it except for integration into late-model Navy F-4 Phantoms equipped with the AIM-9 Sidewinder.[5] HMDs were also introduced in helicopters during this time.[citation needed] were fielded by the South African Air Force. After the South African system had been proven in combat, playing a role in downing Soviet aircraft over Angola, the Soviets embarked on a crash program to counter the technology. As a result, the MiG-29 was fielded in 1985 with an HMD and a high off-boresight weapon (R-73), giving them an advantage in close in maneuvering engagements.

Several nations[which?] responded with programs to counter the MiG-29/HMD/R-73 (and later Su-27) combination once its effectiveness was known, principally through access to former East German MiG-29s that were operated by the unified German Air Force.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmet-mounted_display#ZSh-5_/...

So, in which conflict it was proved to be better?

The many technological areas where Russia is far behind the world include renewable energy, lithium-ion batteries, and electric vehicles. This is not surprising given that Putin's government is so closely tied to the fossil fuel industry.

On EV's, see this link, the answer to question 11 https://cleantechnica.com/2018/11/28/an-interview-with-the-m...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com