I dunno who knows. No one thought Russia would fare so poorly but they had some bad luck. Russian nuclear forces are all on trucks mostly and rail way system. They moved them all the time during Cold War.

When you invade a nation you try to take the airport first. Get the airport then you can bring in everything you need by plane. Its how USA operates.

When there paratroopers landed in Ukraine they were slaughtered and driven off into the woods. That gave no cover for the legion of tanks they sent. USA probably tipped them off.

During Iraq war M1 Tanks rolling with Apache and Fighter jet coverage and a boat load of troops. Russia did not have any of that.

Popular Science has a good article recently how Ukraine might of taken out there flagship Naval Vessal. The day it was sunk was unusal weather that allowed there surface to sea missles radar see about 60 miles. Its why that ship was that far. There radar system could normally only see 40 miles.

Yes they did detonate the largest hydrogen bomb ever to be used on the planet. I would assume so. Google I think TSAR hydrogen bomb. 50 Megaton explosive. They were gonna test a bigger one but it would not have fit in the plane.

Building a nuke if you have the materials and scientists is actually easier for them then a 5th generation fighter thats stealth with the engines that 5th gen fighters require to truly be that.

Nuclear Hydrogen weapons are actually 2 bombs. Fission bomb explodes causing fusion in the other.

50 megaton explosion is almost impossible for a human to grasp. 1 megaton is 1 million kilotons of tnt exploding. We leveled 5 miles Hiroshima with a 12.5 kiloton weapon. America's arsenal is the average is 300 kiloton weapon. That would eradicate a medium sized city.

Then ponder this. US Navy has Ohio Class subs strategically off the continent of most of the world. Thats the bulk of USA's nuclear arsenal. If used you would not even know what the hell happened. I think Ohio Class has like 12 missile silos with 8 nukes each in each rocket that can deliver 100 kilotons to you in about 15 mins.

Then we have our silos for the remainder of our nuclear deterrent. Why USA will never be invaded. One to big, second just one sub will take your whole continent out.

Its like everything else in Russia. They can make one model of say a 5th Generation plane and make that work but mass production seems to be greatly lacking.

The only reason why Russia is a threat or even important is Oil and Nukes. They have alot like alot of nukes.

China is in the same boat.

Glad read this. Most just step into a plane and think nothing of it. Massive amount of work from all sectors make it possible then countinious never ending maintaining of the things.

Many things are demoed like this much like at trade shows that never hit the market for whatever reason. In particular medical treatments.

Then just because its better does not always mean it sees the light of day. Hundreds of billions have been invested so that means you got a fight if you threaten that.

Indeed you are right. Massive consolidation has lead to massive increase in base prices for even simple things.

Nothing new here..and this is a very costly time consuming process. Its why planes cost so much. I work on Aircraft for a living have most of my adult life. You can't install anything on a FAA approved plane that does not have airworthiness certificates.

Should see the load of paperwork required for one simple fix. The actual forms themselves, then copies of the airworthiness conformity report that comes with the part you installed.

But the big money comes from the parts suppliers. There facilities and manufacturing processes have to be approved. When they are they quite often are the only source for certain parts. Its why rivets cost 3 bucks a piece. Why a washer is over a dollar. Why a 17inch monitor is 20,000 dollars.

But on the flip side should your plane get into a accident as long as paperwork has been done right they can narrow a failure down to a batch of screws that were made.

No thats everyone. They can only make X amount of month at full production then the political winds change and you get your numbers reduced. Since were blowing so much money anyhow I would just write a contract give Northrup 100% of the money up front with clauses on severe penalties should they not provide.

They won't do that though. We have a literal graveyard of programs just on the cusp of being produced, figured out or in actual production only for it to be halted. Take the F22 for instance.

Well B2 is 1980s tech. The coating for stealth is designed to defeat high energy radar systems. I would wager Northrup has a coating now that defeats high energy is old school low energy ones which stealth shows up on. Combo of both make it a devastating plane.