We’ve probably all seen Tony Scott’s movie Top Gun, and if you didn’t, then you might just wait until 2019 when Top Gun two comes out. That sequel will be updated so it more realistically represents a modern air force. This means a lack of dogfights, lots of drones, and also fifth generation fighters. The storyline is yet to be revealed, but an US against them narrative combining russian su f 35s, American f 35 Lightning two s, and perhaps China’s Chengdu j ten is not inconceivable. In 2016, a russian fighter pilot even mimicked top Gun by giving a NATO pilot the middle finger midair.
There’s certainly a battle of egos when it comes to air force dominance, and according to national interest, four countries have the most to boast about the US, Russia, China, and Japan today. We’ll focus on the top two in this episode of the infographics show US Air Force versus Russian Air Force don’t forget to subscribe and click the bell button so that you can be part of a notification squad. The US Air Force started in 1907 when an aeronautical division was formed to take charge of all matters pertaining to military ballooning, air machines, and all kindred subjects. The first test of a us air force plane didn’t exactly go according to plan. It crashed and one of the pilots died.
The planes improved, as did the pilots, and by 1913 the first provisional aero squadron was formed. In 1915, as war was raging in Europe, the US military aviation arm had 44 officers, 224 enlisted men and 23 planes. This was nothing compared to what they had over in Europe. Nonetheless, the US poured money into military aviation, and once the Second World War had started, the air force was pretty much free to ask for anything from the government. According to military, the US Air force went from having 26 500 men and 2200 aircraft in 1939 to 2,253,000 men and women and 63 715 aircraft in 1945.
This pretty much cemented the US as a global power, and in 1947, the US Air Force became a department unto itself. Over in Russia, leaders in 1911 ordered the development of aeronautic business in the russian army. During the First World War, Russia had 36 squadrons dedicated to the air with a fleet of 263 flying machines. Between wars, Russia began developing better aircraft, introducing 1930s fighter planes such as the Polycarpov I 15 and the Tupalov sp. By 1941, 363 900 people served in the air forces of the Soviet Red army.
It was during the Cold War when the Soviet Air Force became a force to be reckoned with, and in 1980 it became not only the largest air force in the world, but a highly advanced one too. But was it any match for the US and its top guns? As we know, the Cold War was a race to supremacy, and every time one country developed a new aircraft program, the other started its own program to match it. Things haven’t really changed. The actual russian air force as we know it today was formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
It’s debatable if it was as powerful as the US Air force, but today’s show is also about now. So what do these countries have in terms of power? According to the US Air Force website, it requested a budget of $132.4 billion for 2018. This would go to the modernization of its current inventory, but also towards 502,000 personnel, which is an increase of 4100 active personnel and 1700 guard and reserves. The US certainly has a lot of cash to spend, as Russia’s entire military budget was only about $69.3 billion in 2014 when it was high, almost half of America’s air force budget.
There are differing opinions on the russian defense budget today, but military site Janes reported recently that it might drop to $47.13 billion in 2018. This doesn’t bode well for Russia in our comparison. Nonetheless, just about every analyst out there puts Russia’s air force as the nearest contender to the US Air force in terms of men and women, on the ground or in the air. Russia has 148,000 personnel, far fewer than the US has. In total, it has 3794 aircraft, according to global firepower.
This is compared to the 13 763 aircraft in the US. One major difference is that the US fleet is almost half helicopters, although the US still has more than half the number of russian fighter aircraft. But as the saying goes, it’s quality, not quantity. The USA’s most advanced machines are its fleets of f 22 Raptors, f fighters. These are certainly a powerful force, but the fact it has 195 of the first, 71 of the second, and about 450 of the third is very impressive.
It means quality and quantity. And according to national interest, the US plans to build another. 1763 F also has scores of older planes, as well as some new technologically impressive ones. This includes the X 37 B spaceplane, a secret long distance aircraft that zips around the earth unknown to anyone but a few people. It also includes a ten thunderbolt tank destroyers, as well as manned or unmanned long range strike bomber.
Like the US, Russia owns a lot of oldies but goodies, tried and tested aircraft that have also seen upgrades. Some of these are the best aircraft ever to be made. And as you may have seen from our other comparison videos, they are as good as, if not better than, many american made planes. Maybe the best of the bunch is Russia’s Sukhoi Su 35, of which there are currently 64 units. In fact, we cannot discredit any of the Sukhoi range of attack and multirole fighters, and Russia has hundreds of them.
Generally, the f 35 and Raptor are said to be better, but that’s debatable. And the websites that favor american planes are almost always american. After the Su 35, pundits usually say Russia’s next best aircraft is the MiG 29, the Su 27, and the MiG 31. If the US has an outlandishly large fleet of f 35s in the pipeline, what is Russia building? Well, that’s its own fifth generation plane in the Sukhoi T 50 pack FA stealth fighter, which national interest has said could prove to be a formidable competitor to american fifth generation combat aircraft such as the Lockheed Marin F 22 Raptor and F 35.
A US Air Force intelligence chief did indeed say, after seeing it in action that it definitely competes. Russia is also working on a next generation strategic bomber, the PAC Da. As for manned or unmanned aircraft, Russia has reportedly built a plane it calls the ghost. This is the Su 57 stealth fighter, which Russia claims can cruise at 1516 mph compared to the f, it can be flown like a drone or manned if need be. The prototype is out, and Russia expects full production to begin in the next year or so.
It was also reported that Russia is going to sell them to South Korea. What has the US got up its sleeve? While some of that big budget will be eaten up by all those f 35s, there has to be more going on in the garage. Well, of course, that is the 6th generation jet fighter. These should appear on the scene sometime between 2025 and 2030.
According to the US Air Force, it’s developed under the program Next Generation air dominance. These planes will defy detection, have integrated self protection directed energy weapons, advanced air defense systems, and will even be able to mount cyberattacks. The US’s current 6th generation plane currently being developed is the Boeing fax and Russia’s is the Miko on MiG 41. So which Air Force do you think is superior, russian or american? Let us know in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video called Russia versus the United States. Who would win? Thanks for watching, and as always, don’t forget to, like, share and subscribe. See you next time.