especially in the past 15 years or so. Their MiG-29 is very impressive and so are several of their other recently designed planes. They are both capable in the air, rugged on the ground, and easy to maintain. Unfortunately for their aircraft industry, these planes came at a time when the Soviet Union was collapsing.

No knowledgeable person questions the courage or ability of the Soviet pilots in WWII (or, as they call it, the "Great Patriotic War"). Those who survived the war made it through a very ruthless Darwinean process. Today, most Russian pilots are getting very little flight time, well below the hours needed to achieve and maintain full combat proficiency. Still, I'd glad the tensions have eased between our countries. I'd much rather go forward with Russia on our side (or at least neutral) as against us.