Engineering achievements

[toml_12953]

(02-05-2021 08:35 PM)Hlib Wrote:  Have you ever heard of the most reliable and terrible complexes with SS-18 (Satan) ballistic solid-fuel missiles? After 50 years of conservation, the missile is activated within 60 seconds and is ready to hit a target anywhere in the world. Any objects are destroyed without warning when approaching the launcher at a distance closer than 100 meters.

Is there not a fence around the launcher? I can imagine some innocent person just out for a stroll and suddenly - ZAP!

Speaking of Soviet armament, I remember seeing a MIG turned over to us by a defecting pilot. It used vacuum tubes (valves to my English friends) rather than solid state components. At first we were all laughing about outdated Russian (we Americans used the term Soviet interchangeably with Russian) technology. Then we realized: After a nuclear weapon went off, American planes would crash when the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) hit them. Russian planes would still be flying as if nothing happened! We quickly designed better shielding for our sensitive components.