Comment Re:Invented in US? Made in China. (Score 1) 613
Yes the Cobra is fairly worthless air combat wise, but there are a number of related manoeuvres, that require the same airframe capabilities which are. As for Russian radars, the Russians were the first to have an airborne PESA (Passive electronically steered array) in the Mig-31, and whilst they don't have a AESA (Active electronically steered array) airborne yet or any new fighters since the su-27/mig-29/mig-31, they have been developing a number of new radars in the last two decades. The Su-27 also has the advantage of it's size , it can fit a larger and more powerful radar unit and more fuel, the su-27 family never carry drop tanks (I have never seen a picture of one with external tanks) and it has a range that is as good as, if not better than American fighters like the Eagle fully loaded with fuel tanks. On the other hand you are correct that the have a lot of non flying aircraft due to maintenance issues, but over the last few years they have been trying to fix that, and it is not like they are short of aircraft either, they still have about 1000 modern fighter jets.