4 ms·

Interesting. Sloppy is random is simple is robust. This reminds me of a story where the USA got its hands on a new MiG and when they opened it up found that it

by _e 9y ago

Interesting. Sloppy is random is simple is robust. This reminds me of a story where the USA got its hands on a new MiG and when they opened it up found that it used some kind of antiquated technology. Some time later the USA found out that this was intentional because the older tech could withstand nuclear radiation whereas the new tech would instantly fail.

noir_lord 9y ago
Was the Radar on the Mig-25 that a defector landed in Japan, they used Valves when all the US radars had moved almost entirely to transistors. Fun history, the Russians demanded it back off the US/Japanese so the Japanese government let the US take it apart, photo and test the parts (as quickly as possible) then shipped it back in crates and billed the Russians for the shipping. Which iirc they never paid.
- _e 9y ago
  Thank you! I searched for more background and found another guess why the Soviets used valves instead of transistors: "Unable to afford the thermal-resistance provided by a titanium frame, the MiG-25’s designers used vacuum tubes over transistor-based modern electronics — which made the planes resistant to high-temperatures and cheaper to maintain."[0] [0] http://warisboring.com/one-soviet-defector-shoved-japan-into-the-superpower-struggle/ http://warisboring.com/one-soviet-defector-shoved-japan-into...
- gnu8 9y ago
  I think that detail about the billing USSR for the return shipping of the plane is propaganda meant to humanize the US/Japanese side and dehumanize the USSR side by showing that we have a sense of humor and they don't. USSR could have replied by sending an invoice for the rental of the plane, reassembly of the components, and the intellectual property licensing for all of the technical data obtained. All of that would no doubt ought weigh the cost of crating and shipping the plane by orders of magnitude. Not that either side would ever have considered paying, of course. In reality, some entirely secret concession could have been made that we might never find out about unless it was documented and is some day declassified.
- gaius 9y ago
  Was the Radar on the Mig-25 that a defector landed in Japan There's a similar story about the "sloppy" riveting work on the Mig-25. Turned out to have significant beneficial effect in the airflow.
  - noir_lord 9y ago
    The USSR was brilliant at doing more with less (advanced technology). That was brought home to me in a documentary I watched about the Mig-29, the US/Nato avoided FOD (Foreign Object Damage) by scrupulously walking the runway/apron every day and cleaning up. The USSR just put air intakes on the top for taxiing so crap didn't get sucked into the main inlets. It was such a simple design and yet the advantages in a war situation operating from crappy debris strewn airfields where obvious, they had Mig-29's taxing over rough dirt berms and all sorts of crazy things (at least from a western viewpoint).

by _e 9y ago

noir_lord 9y ago

Was the Radar on the Mig-25 that a defector landed in Japan, they used Valves when all the US radars had moved almost entirely to transistors. Fun history, the Russians demanded it back off the US/Japanese so the Japanese government let the US take it apart, photo and test the parts (as quickly as possible) then shipped it back in crates and billed the Russians for the shipping. Which iirc they never paid.

_e 9y ago
Thank you! I searched for more background and found another guess why the Soviets used valves instead of transistors: "Unable to afford the thermal-resistance provided by a titanium frame, the MiG-25’s designers used vacuum tubes over transistor-based modern electronics — which made the planes resistant to high-temperatures and cheaper to maintain."[0] [0] http://warisboring.com/one-soviet-defector-shoved-japan-into-the-superpower-struggle/ http://warisboring.com/one-soviet-defector-shoved-japan-into...
gnu8 9y ago
I think that detail about the billing USSR for the return shipping of the plane is propaganda meant to humanize the US/Japanese side and dehumanize the USSR side by showing that we have a sense of humor and they don't. USSR could have replied by sending an invoice for the rental of the plane, reassembly of the components, and the intellectual property licensing for all of the technical data obtained. All of that would no doubt ought weigh the cost of crating and shipping the plane by orders of magnitude. Not that either side would ever have considered paying, of course. In reality, some entirely secret concession could have been made that we might never find out about unless it was documented and is some day declassified.
gaius 9y ago
Was the Radar on the Mig-25 that a defector landed in Japan There's a similar story about the "sloppy" riveting work on the Mig-25. Turned out to have significant beneficial effect in the airflow.
- noir_lord 9y ago
  The USSR was brilliant at doing more with less (advanced technology). That was brought home to me in a documentary I watched about the Mig-29, the US/Nato avoided FOD (Foreign Object Damage) by scrupulously walking the runway/apron every day and cleaning up. The USSR just put air intakes on the top for taxiing so crap didn't get sucked into the main inlets. It was such a simple design and yet the advantages in a war situation operating from crappy debris strewn airfields where obvious, they had Mig-29's taxing over rough dirt berms and all sorts of crazy things (at least from a western viewpoint).