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4 Massively over-hyped Russian weapons systems
Vladimir Putin likes to talk a lot of smack when demonstrating Russia’s new weapons. But Western analysts face a familiar dilemma every time: We have to separate genuine technological advances from the propaganda hype. Luckily, history is a valuable filter here. Moscow has repeatedly showcased platforms billed as revolutionary, only for actual combat experience and technical analysis to reveal some pretty critical flaws. Before taking Putin’s victory laps about hypersonic missiles or next-generation armor at face value, let’s poke some holes in his sails by looking at some Russian weapons that were massively overhyped in years past.
1. MiG-25 Foxbat
The performance specs on this plane were impressive. It had a top speed of 2,170 miles per hour and could reach altitudes in excess of 80,000 feet. It packed four AA-6 Acrid air-to-air missiles and could also carry the AA-7 Apex and AA-8 Aphid. Its purpose was to counter the planned B-70 Valkyrie, but the Valkyrie never got past the prototype stage. As a consequence, the Foxbat ended up a plane without a mission.America got a close look at a MiG-25 when one was flown to Japan as its pilot defected, and the Pentagon breathed a sigh of relief as it learned just how primitive some of the onboard technology was. Moreover, the MiG-25 never did that well in combat. It may have scored an aerial victory during the Gulf War and did shoot down a Predator drone in 2002, but two were downed by U.S. Air Force F-15s during Desert Storm. A third was shot down shortly afterward by an F-16.
An air-to-air right underside rear view of a Soviet MiG-25 Foxbat aircraft carrying four AA-6 Acrid missiles. (Department of Defense)
2. T-72 Main Battle Tank
Everyone started getting suspicious after the Israelis handled a few dozen Syrian T-72s with no problem in 1982. During Desert Storm, however, this tank was officially declared all hype. In one incident, as recounted in the late Tom Clancy’s “Armored Cav,” a T-72 fired a main-gun round at an M1A1 Abrams from roughly 400 yards. The round bounced off and left a groove in the armor. The offending T-72 didn’t survive return fire from the Abrams.The Soviets—and later, the Russians—have built a lot of T-72s (and probably lost a lot of them to the Ukrainians), but the tank is still widely used. It’s cheap, it’s kinda simple, and it only needs three crewmen. Clancy put it best in a 1996 USENET post after taking one for a test drive, saying, “to call this beast a dog is an insult to Pluto.”
Members of the Coalition forces drive a T-72 main battle tank along a channel cleared of mines during Operation Desert Storm. (Department of Defense)
3. MiG-29 Fulcrum
The Soviet Union was desperate to counter the F-14, F-15, F-16, and F/A-18 in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. That was why they developed the Su-27 and MiG-29. But when the time came for the Fulcrum to step up… well, let’s just say a lot of MiG-29 parts have been “distributed,” mostly over Iraq, Kuwait, and Serbia.The MiG-29 did see some limited success in the mid-to-late 1990s, but it was still overhyped. A Cuban MiG-29 blew a pair of unarmed, propeller-driven planes flown by Brothers to the Rescue out of the sky, while Eritrean MiG-29s shot down three MiG-21s and a MiG-23 in exchange for anywhere from five to seven Fulcrums. On second thought, ‘success’ might not be the right word.
An F-16 Fighting Falcon flies in formation with a MiG-29 during exercise Sentry White Falcon 05. (U.S. Air Force)
4. Alfa-class nuclear submarine
This sub was fast, able to go over 40 knots, and it was small, weighing about 3,200 tons. It had six 21-inch torpedo tubes, allowing it to pack a punch with 18 torpedoes. There was one problem, though: It was noisy. Very noisy. In submarine warfare, where the primary sensors are sonar, that’s a fatal flaw.The Alfa-class subs never saw combat, but they did star in some of Tom Clancy’s earliest books. Two sank in “The Hunt for Red October,” one in a reactor accident the other after being rammed. A third Alfa sank two American subs before a British sub put it on the bottom.
The Alfa-class sub was the hot rod of submarines—and it was just as noisy. (Department of Defense)
Think about these four platforms before you panic over Putin’s latest pronouncements.Oh, and by the way, Russia’s newest tank, the Armata? It’s quite possible that an anti-tank missile that America first used in Vietnam could knock it out. Russian weapons were overhyped once; they will be overhyped again.
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