Frankly, if the ex-soviet submarine fleet is anything to go by, I'm not sure the Russian nuclear missile fleet is in any fit state to move, let alone fly.
Still, they can say they're going to Belarus.... keep to the Fen Causeway
Their aeronautical designs are also very, very good. A lot of aeronautical equations are named after Russians, and a lot of numerical analysis techniques as well.
They may not have had the money to do maintenance, but their mechanical design is built to last, baby.
The most brilliant engineers I have worked with are Russians and Germans. And, a lot of Polish engineers I have worked with have stated the same thing, surprisingly.
So, I wouldn't discount them yet.
I thought it would be fun to suggest that she'd like a ride on the Shuttle for a birthday present.
She said "Are you crazy? You'd never get me into that thing. I've seen the plans."
New Scientist had a feature about fifteen years ago quantifying the risk of the shuttle program and predicting that there would be 2-3 catastrophic failures.
No one paid any attention. But still.
"It's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract."
-- Alan Shepherd Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
