Absolutely. Russia has never been so weak and corruption has eroded their military. When they went into Ukraine the generals and everyone else had sold a lot of their fuel supplies, ammunition and other vital equipment off. Tyres on Russian vehicles were wearing out within a week of the invasion because they'd sold them off and replaced them with cheap Chinese tyres. There wasn't enough AKs or Ak rounds probably because the US had bought them all up to arm the Afgan national army and iraqi army. Add all that to the fact that they are fighting using 1970s Russian equipment and tactics yeah they are definitely overrated. Russia in Ukraine have lost most of their best people that conscripts are not going to be able to replace. They are unable to operate aircraft over Ukraine and are forced to rely on inaccurate ww2 style bombardments while the Ukrainians can do with 1 what it takes Russia to do with 100.
Russia has been overestimated for years but the us military has known exactly how weak Russia was.
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Not necessarily, only for specific scenarios. The USSR always had millions of at least basic trained soldiers/reserves, ten-thousands of units of dumb iron and atomic weapons. But they lack in modern technology (rushed copies of Western ideas), they lack in modern methods (combined arms warfare) and they lack in HR/material maintenance (planes falling from the sky).
That's why they won in World War II with an uncompromising all-out warfare and the clear motivation of defending their home country. And that's why they are failing miserably in Ukraine, because they put that country in the exact same spot they had been from 1941-1945.
unless you think they're not doing too good... america gives ukraine billions every 2 weeks god know what kind of weapons they get.
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I think maybe the Russian gov itself has overestimated this. And seems to be that they only want to tout nuclear weapons as their major threat that the world should fear, maybe to make up for the fact that they know they aren't really a great military. They tried controlling Afghanistan in the 80s and that didn't work - but didn't work for the U. S. either, Afghanistan is a country few invaders have ever triumphed over. And they barely beat off the Chechens in the 90s.
I think Russia has an easier time bullying neighbors they know aren't really going to stand a chance. Also using war of attrition shows that they obviously aren't that brilliant with combat. If you have to resort to tactics like that then you aren't very strategically intelligent on the battlefield.
No because in the current conflict Russia is facing the military power of the Ukraine and the NATO. Though isn´t officially involved in the conflict with troops but it´s deeply involved with military machines and enginees. So one could argue Russia is fighting with Ukraine, UK, France, Poland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal (?) and the US miltary at the same time.
If NATO wasn´t supporting the Ukraine the conflict might be already over. The problem for Russia is that that they have only partners to support them financially besides Iran maybe. I haven´t heard anything that they are getting military support by North Korea yet.I think most of their weapons systems are from the Soviet era. The newer designs, like the S-400 are grossly overrated. I think the Ukrainians have proven that lately, even this week. Turkey lost so much credibility by buying the S-400. They shouldn’t be allowed to have the F-16 due to that purchase for obvious reasons to those who have followed it.
From a conventional standpoint, yes. Anyone who looks at Russia's military makeup can see it of a defensive nature. It contains mostly armor (tanks and whatnot). Both for defending Russia and extending it's border off Moscows doorstep (I'm not defending Russia's invasion of Ukraine but it does make sense for Russia to control it for thier defense. Russia's weapons are not that technologically advanced either. Russia's view towards military is about the same as it's view towards it's citizens. Throw wave after wave of subpar poorly trained weaponry at the enemy. Russia is OK with losing a million men.
Really the ONLY thing that makes Russia formidable is 1 the vast untapped or underdeveloped resources they possess. And of course the nuclear option.
During the Soviet Union days I think they were pretty strong. After the break up I think the military went to hell. Spending so much on the military was a major reason they broke up in the first place. They were trying to have an arms race with the US, but didn't have nearly as strong of an economy as the US, and it was hurting them badly. So they dramatically reduced spending.
It's hard to underestimate nuclear weapons.
There's a difference between the weapons you have the willingness to use them.
If you really want to win a war and don't care about the costs, you whip the nukes and end it that day.Don’t really know. But having powerful friends with good funding and military resources isn’t a match for invading forces. Says Israel in 48 and 67. Vietnam. Afghanistan. And now Ukraine.
No, I never really thought it was that great to begin with.
No. The opposite.
Overestimated? I don't think so frankly
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