Seeing itself as something doesn't mean alignment.
Golden tiles won't grow on every roof of Moscow just because of closer relations with China.
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- Thread starter tphuang
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Golden tiles won't grow on every roof of Moscow just because of closer relations with China.
Based, solely, on this pic, are we really seeing “stealth” features? Shaping isn’t that advanced.
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Russia’s last (Imperial) Czar was Queen Victoria’s goddamned grandson!
The Russian Empire, historically, was aligned with the “west”.
It’s happened before; it can happen again.
We’re all conjecturing, here!
I'm not sure such a thing really exists.
The things that make 5th gens, 5th gens are the expensive engineering, expensive electronics, etc. You put those things in a 4th gen (AESA, advanced avionics, datalinking) suddenly you have a 4th gen that is almost as expensive as 5th gens (ie. F-15SE). If you think that this is because of pork barrel US politics, then just look at "low-cost" JF-17 price ballooning between blocks.
How many countries can afford these kinds of planes? Basically all are aligned with the US, otherwise its China, India, and Russia on their own. Most countries are barely getting by on refurbs and used planes. If Checkmate is an export product, this is the real challenge.
For fear of steering the thread a little too off-topic, but I believe the Israel fear (from Chinese military fans) stems from the broken Phalcon deal. Prior to this, the Israel-China military relationship was very close, Python-3, alleged Patriot guidance tech sales, alleged Lavi technical data sales, etc. Compounding this, Israel has moved on to India as its biggest customer which doesn't help. I don't think this has affected the actual political relationship though.
Descendant of Prussian nobility, so their ties to the rest of the inbred europoean nobility is to be expected. Doesn't say anything of the country today geopolitics wise.
Specially when Russians today are deeply aware the West sees them as asiatic mischievous hordes anyway and has done so since 1917.
The chances of them falling into western influence again is close to 0.
All that conjecture is illogical and pointless. Otherwise, you'd be lending credence to the western orientalist vision that the CPC is actually a continuation of the Qing Emperors, somehow.
Did China "fall into Western influence" when it joined US in a quasi-alliance against Soviet Union after the Sino-Soviet split?
No. China was looking out for it's best interests, and it just so happened being US friends against a very powerful Soviet Union was a logical choice, doesn't mean China "fall into Western influence". China still pursued an independent foreign policy, not a Western stooge.
Similarly, a Russian attempt to join US to contain China doesn't mean Russia gives up it's core interests in Eastern Europe or Middle East...
Not literally same Emperors, but PRC's claim on Taiwan relies on claiming continuation of Qing dynasty claims as successor state to Qing and ROC states, since PRC never held jurisdiction over Taiwan island, and Japan signed Shiminoseki Treaty with Qing, and not PRC/ROC. So yes, CPC does claim itself as continuation or successor state to Qing and ROC. I don't see a problem with that.
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This goes both ways: most expensive stuff(electronics, engines, fire control) is actually comparable for modern 5th and 4th gen platforms, which leads to very comparable prices(american f-35 is in the middle of the pack of western fighters, for example). What stands out for 5th gen is development price - and LTS approach tries to cut it as much as possible.
At this point development/procurement of LTS may very well end up much cheaper than, say, Indian twin engine TEDBF, which nominally is a 4th gen.
This isn't an unreasonable line of thought, however it mistakenly implies Putin's successor will attempt a pivot back to the west. Note the primary issue of difference is the baltics, ukraine, and crimea. These are places with heavy native russian population and which have been at some point in history part of "russian lands". While there may be reasonable accommodation in Baltics, I don't see a russian leader surviving by giving up Crimea or allowing re-integration of the donbass into Ukraine. Furthermore, another front has opened up with Belarus, which also has extremely close language, ethnic, and cultural ties to russia and now also subject to western sanctions.
The issue isn't that Russia is willing to improve relations with the west, but rather the key issues of difference are non-negotiable. A "democratic" Russia wouldn't have materially different positions on either ukraine and crimea. Maybe they wouldn't have invaded to begin with, but they would never give it back, the people who live there are now considered fellow russians, and you dont give up your countrymen unless you are defeated in war.
At most, Russia will be a neutral player in China vs US (and even then, that should already be considered a US victory). Europe's security concern is still with Russia, and if US got too cozy with Russia, EU would continue building out "strategic autonomy". Keep in mind that china's leverage against Russia is also that it could simply re-engage with central Europe in a way that its not doing right now. If Russia were to go against China, China could easily start pressuring Ukraine and Central Asia. These are not traditional Chinese areas of influence, so it would be a struggle for russia to lose. A US thaw on russia could also be seen as betrayal of eastern europe. While europe still relies on Russia as a source of hydrocarbons, this dependence will only last another 20 years as they persue alternative energy. In that respect, Russia's strategic leverage against Europe is decreasing.
I would have to disagree. They can easily fall for Western influence as long as the West still has some degree of economic leadership. Despite all of their boasting, they in reality yearn for the West to recognize them as Western and as equals. If the title, “Western”, turns into something one despises, I guarantee you they will definitely not fall into the Western sphere of influence.
Russia had never been a true ally and countries have never been “true” allies. The reason why this myth of a true alliance is brought up is because the West won the Cold War and had the largest combined economy in the world. If (more like when at this point) they lose that advantage and have to depend on another country for their meals, they will eat each other like a pack of starving dogs over a hunk of meat.
Now, back on topic, I believe that even if (emphasis on if) this fighter is a true 5th gen fighter and is good enough to pose a challenge to the current PLAAF, PLAN, or even the USN and USAF, its delivery may take a couple of years if we use the Su57’s delivery and production timeline as a model. In short, in a couple of years, thanks to the ongoing de facto arms race, the advantage the 5th generation fighters enjoyed for the past few decades will have been eroded.
And, thus, the debate begins, again!