[ARC5] OT - Soviets aren't stupid.

[David Stinson]

In 1987 and 1988, I was involved (as a minor flunky nobody) 
in a joint US-Soviet project in Nevada.
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/081788a.htm

We got to work closely with our Soviet counterparts.
They are NOT stupid.  They are smart and very pragmatic people.
How "well" or "crude" something was built depended 
on just how "good" it needed to be to perform its function.  
We joked about a particular vehicle trailer and equipment haulers
they used.  These looked like they were built and used by 
Fred Flintstone.  Well- how "modern" did they need to be to haul
equipment?   But all "joking" stopped when we got a look at their
instrumentation.  It was built to a very high standard indeed, some 
of it with better specs than our own, and ours were excellent.
Don't underestimate the Russians.  
73 DE Dave AB5S