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Yes, without help from the US the rest of the world is about 230 years behind in warfighting technology.. Patriot missiles were first successfully deployed agai

Yes, without help from the US the rest of the world is about 230 years behind in warfighting technology.. Patriot missiles were first successfully deployed against a US drone aircraft in 1965. Patriot systems were in use to shield Kyiv et al to great success. I know it sucks to hear this, but if the US goes isolationist, there's not much anyone can do.

thisislife2 2y ago
During the cold war, Soviet Russia realised that NATO Air Force was becoming superior in numbers to their own, and would probably dominate the air domain in a conflict with them. So they pivoted their focus to missiles and anti-ballistic missile (ABM) shields to neutralise this western advantage. And, for a period, their missile and ABM programs did have a big lead over the west. After the USSR disintegrated, the west managed to catch up with them. As for Ukraine, they have the S-300 ABM, the Buks and Osa-AKM for air defence. (The Russian made Buk was one of the first systems able to intercept cruise missiles and US-made Lance tactical ballistic missiles, Harm anti-radar missiles and other airborne and ground-based precision weapons). Though quite old, they are still formidable and is one of the main reasons Russian Air Force has a low key role in the current ongoing conflict. (That + the NATO AWACS). The problem Ukraine had was that they ran out of missiles for these platform and that's why the US provided them with the Patriot system. But since America did not have enough spare Patriot missiles, East Europe and the US also modified the Buk platform to fire the radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow and the semi-active radar-guided RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, as well as the heat-seeking AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missile.
mike_hearn 2y ago
230 years? Which number did you mean to write there, 23?
- genewitch 2y ago
  1965 is more than 23 years ago.
dieortin 2y ago
Is this satire? Or do you truly believe the rest of the world is 230 years behind?
- genewitch 2y ago
  the plane this topic is about is 50 years old. the missile defense system that was protecting ukraine is 65 years old. We give everyone our junk after the US Marine Corps is done with it, and they get it 20+ years after the army, navy, and airforce consider them "obsolete". Yes, two hundred and thirty years to even compete with the US. Please note, this is if the US goes full isolationist, and pulls all military forces worldwide back to the US and US territorial waters. For example, people are talking about Rolls royce "reverse engineering" american engines, or the chinese. Another idea was using Saab planes. If saab planes are so great, why were they using american F-16s? these aren't my numbers, but my experience with linking the sources of my data isn't great on HN.
  - namaria 2y ago
    If the US becomes isolationist, it's technological edge becomes irrelevant. The US pulling out of the World Order it builds and which underpins its massive wealth won't hurt anyone more than the US.
    - genewitch 2y ago
      As a US citizen, i'm fine with that.
      - namaria 2y ago
        You're fine with declining wealth?
        toomuchtodo 2y ago
        Not OP, but yes. Who has most of it? Not I. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/a-visual-breakdown-of-who-owns-americas-wealth/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/a-visual-breakdown-of-who-o...
CRConrad 2y ago
Less than eighty years ago Germany was at least on par with, or arguably ahead of, the USA in “warfighting technology”. (Werner von Braun ring a bell?) So “230 years” is mathematically impossible; even if the rest of the world had stood still since then, it couldn't be more than eighty years behind. (Which it didn't, so it's far less.)

thisislife2 2y ago

During the cold war, Soviet Russia realised that NATO Air Force was becoming superior in numbers to their own, and would probably dominate the air domain in a conflict with them. So they pivoted their focus to missiles and anti-ballistic missile (ABM) shields to neutralise this western advantage. And, for a period, their missile and ABM programs did have a big lead over the west. After the USSR disintegrated, the west managed to catch up with them. As for Ukraine, they have the S-300 ABM, the Buks and Osa-AKM for air defence. (The Russian made Buk was one of the first systems able to intercept cruise missiles and US-made Lance tactical ballistic missiles, Harm anti-radar missiles and other airborne and ground-based precision weapons). Though quite old, they are still formidable and is one of the main reasons Russian Air Force has a low key role in the current ongoing conflict. (That + the NATO AWACS). The problem Ukraine had was that they ran out of missiles for these platform and that's why the US provided them with the Patriot system. But since America did not have enough spare Patriot missiles, East Europe and the US also modified the Buk platform to fire the radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow and the semi-active radar-guided RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, as well as the heat-seeking AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missile.

mike_hearn 2y ago

230 years? Which number did you mean to write there, 23?

genewitch 2y ago
1965 is more than 23 years ago.

dieortin 2y ago

Is this satire? Or do you truly believe the rest of the world is 230 years behind?

genewitch 2y ago
the plane this topic is about is 50 years old. the missile defense system that was protecting ukraine is 65 years old. We give everyone our junk after the US Marine Corps is done with it, and they get it 20+ years after the army, navy, and airforce consider them "obsolete". Yes, two hundred and thirty years to even compete with the US. Please note, this is if the US goes full isolationist, and pulls all military forces worldwide back to the US and US territorial waters. For example, people are talking about Rolls royce "reverse engineering" american engines, or the chinese. Another idea was using Saab planes. If saab planes are so great, why were they using american F-16s? these aren't my numbers, but my experience with linking the sources of my data isn't great on HN.
- namaria 2y ago
  If the US becomes isolationist, it's technological edge becomes irrelevant. The US pulling out of the World Order it builds and which underpins its massive wealth won't hurt anyone more than the US.
  - genewitch 2y ago
    As a US citizen, i'm fine with that.
    - namaria 2y ago
      You're fine with declining wealth?
      - toomuchtodo 2y ago
        Not OP, but yes. Who has most of it? Not I. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/a-visual-breakdown-of-who-owns-americas-wealth/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/a-visual-breakdown-of-who-o...

CRConrad 2y ago

Less than eighty years ago Germany was at least on par with, or arguably ahead of, the USA in “warfighting technology”. (Werner von Braun ring a bell?) So “230 years” is mathematically impossible; even if the rest of the world had stood still since then, it couldn't be more than eighty years behind. (Which it didn't, so it's far less.)