Because these are first strike weapons, not second strike weapons that follow the first and second strikes that are intended to disable anti air and warning radars and establish air supremacy.

F-16i, f-16e block 60, and the 35 carrying the same weapons load.

Putin ingeniously restructured the Russian economy in the 2000s to bring in much needed revenue. But instead of spending that cash on rebuilding the historically-strong Russian manufacturing base, he spent it on missiles and tanks. And now his economy is tanking.

Love your screen name, comrade. Glad you could join us.

Came here to post this. RT is many things, but I think this might be the first time in print that I’ve ever heard anyone refer to them as a “news organization.” In other words, if Pravda and the Onion had a love child, RT would be it.

Well said. Until 2011, I was actually hoping that a NATO-Russia alliance of some sort would be possible, but that all disappeared once Putin had a first in a series of his brain farts.

If it’s reported by RT and it’s about Russia or Ukraine, I don’t believe it. Actually, I’ve grown accustomed to reading their headlines in reverse meaning as a way of getting to the likely truth. In this case: Russia Probably Won’t Revive Its Ultra High Performance Alfa Class Submarines. That seems right to me.

Vodka makes you see things that aren’t really there, like budget.

You know Russia, I used to know this guy who had keepin’ up with the Jones in a big way, they bought and spent and had some cool stuff but as is the case so many of these stories, they went bust and it was kind of a bummer for everyone involved (with the exception of people that sold stuff to this guy and the Jones).…

The Russian narrative, while it may appeal to simpletons, shouldn’t get past common sense scrutiny when we take into account that NATO has never petitioned a former Eastern Bloc country. They do not have to. They simply wait for Russia to do what it does best, in alienating its neighbors, and being on the wrong side…

Actually.... surprisingly the U.S. had very little to do with what happened in Ukraine, the country was stabilizing and going through a brief period of internal strife, then the russians invaded Crimea and it went all to shit. Here’s the full writeup on the timeline of events. first line is approximately november ish…

Boy that is a massively flawed interpretation of history and recent events. Congrats on being an apologist for the latest European strongman, who leads a country that will inevitably collapse financially, even before sanctions.

Tell that to the Swedes. You also failed to address my point, which was that Putin acts like he’s a victim of NATO, but the expansion has been a response to the unpredictable behavior of Russian leadership.

Yup.... Norway.

This is a complete load of horseshit. Your wierd isolationism is tainting your view of reality.

Not entirely correct. The former Ukrainian president backing out of a widely supported EU association treaty to instead signed into Putin’s Eurasian Union triggered his ouster. At the end of the day it was a push-pull struggle between the western aspirations of the people and the Russian leanings of their president.…

Stop lying to yourself and others! I will tell you as a Ukrainian it wasnt like that at all. The government was overthrown because Yanukovich suddenly refused to sign association agreement with EU. Completely nothing to do with NATO. Like absolutely nothing. NATO doesnt invite anyone, you have to apply to join. If you…

NATO certainly shared a border with the Soviet Union. Where did they share a border with Russia? The only thing I can think of is the northern tip of Norway.

And when people bleat about “NATO” encroaching on Russia” I am reminded how unfamiliar people are with maps.