8 ms·

I just had a thought--who are the VKS pilots? This is a pretty kick-ass and prestigious job. Have these positions been handed out to the favored sons of well-co

I just had a thought--who are the VKS pilots? This is a pretty kick-ass and prestigious job. Have these positions been handed out to the favored sons of well-connected families, as is typical of many things in Russia? If so, could this be contributing to a reluctance to commit them to a conflict that is not going well against relatively well-equipped adversary?

nwatson 5y ago
Sounds plausible. Also in a kleptocracy there likely are opportunities to siphon loads of cash away from military programs and short-change equipment and training needs. An oligarch might think, "Russia will not need to wage a sophisticated air campaign any time in the next fifty years! The slop trough buffet is open!"
- moltar 5y ago
  There was already evidence of that. Apparently Russian troops were selling diesel fuel to the locals while they were waiting at the border before the war had started.
- jmnicolas 5y ago
  > "Russia will not need to wage a sophisticated air campaign any time in the next fifty years! The slop trough buffet is open!" Most people at this level don't have a soul or patriotic feelings, so the internal dialog is probably: "I don't give a shit what happens to Russia, I'll find another country to feed onto".
avgcorrection 5y ago
Pretty underwhelming to see a spitball theory on Russia regarding nepotism/corruption based on it being “typical of many things in Russia”—nothing specific to the military or the air force, just a blank cheque that can be used to interrogate anything.
- torbTurret 5y ago
  Underwhelming, sure, but likely true. Genuine question: have you spent anytime living there? If so where/how long?
  - avgcorrection 5y ago
    No time.
- ipv6ipv4 5y ago
  This is a long video but it explains in detail where OPs assertion is coming from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF9KretXqJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF9KretXqJw
  - jmnicolas 5y ago
    Thanks but it's a one hour video in Finish! Subtitles are available but I don't know if they're good quality. I probably could read the thing in 20 minutes if I could extract the subtitles. Do you have a link on an article that I could put though deepl?
    - jdougan 5y ago
      I usually use YCS [1] to extract subtitles though ypu may want to remove the timestamps before translation. 1. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ycs-youtube-comment-searc/pmfhcilikeembgbiadjiojgfgcfbcoaa?hl=en&gl=US https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ycs-youtube-commen...
      - jmnicolas 5y ago
        Thanks, at the time I didn't think about youtube-dl but of course it has args for that :) youtube-dl --write-sub --sub-lang en --skip-download I translated the subtitles with deepl, it made for a fascinating read!
- KptMarchewa 5y ago
credit_guy 5y ago
I was not born in Russia, but in some Eastern European country. In my country, during the Communism, and the decade after (and maybe even to this day, but I haven't lived there since 2000), the competition to become a jet fighter pilot was absolutely insane. But that was because the kids just liked jet fighters, (some probably from watching Top Gun). However, it was known that lots of the pilots died in crashes (e.g. [1]). It was also rumored that the pilots ended up having reproductive problems because of radiation from its radar, or something. It's possible that this was an unsubstantiated urban legend, but the rumor existed, and that's what mattered. Given this, I doubt the sons of the well-connected big shots were really flocking to become pilots. Nowadays, those sons most likely prefer to go and study in Switzerland, or the UK or the US. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doru_Davidovici https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doru_Davidovici

nwatson 5y ago

Sounds plausible. Also in a kleptocracy there likely are opportunities to siphon loads of cash away from military programs and short-change equipment and training needs. An oligarch might think, "Russia will not need to wage a sophisticated air campaign any time in the next fifty years! The slop trough buffet is open!"

moltar 5y ago
There was already evidence of that. Apparently Russian troops were selling diesel fuel to the locals while they were waiting at the border before the war had started.
jmnicolas 5y ago
> "Russia will not need to wage a sophisticated air campaign any time in the next fifty years! The slop trough buffet is open!" Most people at this level don't have a soul or patriotic feelings, so the internal dialog is probably: "I don't give a shit what happens to Russia, I'll find another country to feed onto".

avgcorrection 5y ago

Pretty underwhelming to see a spitball theory on Russia regarding nepotism/corruption based on it being “typical of many things in Russia”—nothing specific to the military or the air force, just a blank cheque that can be used to interrogate anything.

torbTurret 5y ago
Underwhelming, sure, but likely true. Genuine question: have you spent anytime living there? If so where/how long?
- avgcorrection 5y ago
  No time.
ipv6ipv4 5y ago
This is a long video but it explains in detail where OPs assertion is coming from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF9KretXqJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF9KretXqJw
- jmnicolas 5y ago
  Thanks but it's a one hour video in Finish! Subtitles are available but I don't know if they're good quality. I probably could read the thing in 20 minutes if I could extract the subtitles. Do you have a link on an article that I could put though deepl?
  - jdougan 5y ago
    I usually use YCS [1] to extract subtitles though ypu may want to remove the timestamps before translation. 1. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ycs-youtube-comment-searc/pmfhcilikeembgbiadjiojgfgcfbcoaa?hl=en&gl=US https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ycs-youtube-commen...
    - jmnicolas 5y ago
      Thanks, at the time I didn't think about youtube-dl but of course it has args for that :) youtube-dl --write-sub --sub-lang en --skip-download I translated the subtitles with deepl, it made for a fascinating read!
KptMarchewa 5y ago

credit_guy 5y ago

I was not born in Russia, but in some Eastern European country. In my country, during the Communism, and the decade after (and maybe even to this day, but I haven't lived there since 2000), the competition to become a jet fighter pilot was absolutely insane. But that was because the kids just liked jet fighters, (some probably from watching Top Gun). However, it was known that lots of the pilots died in crashes (e.g. [1]). It was also rumored that the pilots ended up having reproductive problems because of radiation from its radar, or something. It's possible that this was an unsubstantiated urban legend, but the rumor existed, and that's what mattered. Given this, I doubt the sons of the well-connected big shots were really flocking to become pilots. Nowadays, those sons most likely prefer to go and study in Switzerland, or the UK or the US. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doru_Davidovici https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doru_Davidovici