Pick the best /worst cold war weapons

Originally posted by Cryptic Whjat were the best designed and the most overated weapons of the coldwar.   My picks are....   Best   1. AK 47  50 million satisfied users cant be wrong 2.  RPG  Easy to use, still deadly against armour and Helicopters, can be made into a very basic or a pretty sophisticated weapon based users training. 3. BMP  This started the whole Infantry Fighting Vehicle Concept.  BMP came out years before Bradley, warrior etc. 4. F-16 Often imitated, never duplicated 5. F-4 Pantom  Can take off from a runway or a carrier, huge bomb load and can be used as a figher as well.   Worst 1. Soviet Tanks - Cramped crew compartment,  horrible ammunition storage, small load of ammunition, prone to catastrophic hits         4.

Originally posted by Centrix Vigilis     2. Pershing missile system I/II..hated guarding the bastards but the punch was there and them birds would have flown. Lance was also good

I'd say the worst Cold War weapon was the CIA.

Media.

Allies were more successful in the vilification of the communists.

"...Advanced versions of the HIND (late cold war) would have to be compared to the APACHE.   None of the Advanced Hinds could match the Apache's Hellfire missiles and flexible 30mm cannon. "- that doesn't remove their gun armament. The first AH-64s entered service 1984 btw, a decade later. And the Apaches themselves would be compared to Mi-28's and Ka-50's that were just to enter service in the late 80's and early 90's.

"..Soviet cold war tanks were simply not good machines."-compared to what?

"..Had the Tanks in Grozny been M-1s, Leopards, Challengers or Merkavas (even early versions), there would have been far fewer catastrophic hits.   The Soviets did have some good vehicles.   The innovative BMP was way ahead of western vehicles..."-what's the number of TANKS destroyed in Grozny? Can any tank resist an RPG hit in the upper side of the engine compartment?
Most of the armor lost there infact was BTRs, BMPs and BMDs.
".. Even the non export T 72 lacked an armoured ammunition storage area"-I'm seriously suspicious that an armored ammo storage area can save the crew in case of ammo detonation. The different placing of the ammo on western tanks is because of the position of the loader( part of the munition is in the back side of the turret ). That doesn't make them better-just gives a little bit more time for the crew to escape (if capable) before the ammo starts exploding in case of critical hit.
The main characteristic of soviet armor was more powerful guns(100mm>90mm, 115/125mm>105/120mm)in the same generation with their western counterparts, better cross-country capabilities, lower silhouette and introduction of many innovations (first smoothbore guns, gaso-turbine engines, auto-loaders etc.)

was that courtsey of the bird or the training provided by the USAF?

B-52 all the way!!!!

Yes, but the F-86 was two generations older than the MiG-21. And of course it was the training as part of the defence past with the US, that made the difference.

Originally posted by Exarchus B-52 all the way!!!!

Edited by Cryptic - 22-Aug-2006 at 10:53

Originally posted by Cryptic I agree, the B 52 is an awesome plane.  How old is the design, 50 years?  And to think, they are still in use today and will be in use until 2020.   Now tell us one of the worst cold war weapons.

This is a much more complicated question, I won't say it was the worst but one of the worst was the F-104 Starfighter. The US phased it out so fast after it being available and the number of crash is a nice hint.