sir can you please explain on what grounds you say so! i hope this would be informative!!
Yes...I will...Below...
the russians hvae believed in the power of numerical superiority...a tried and tested tactic since their second WW encounters.We indians follow the same tactic and our C&C is 'believed' to be based on the russian one(it caused great worry in the military quarters when the Iraqi army...another army based on the soviet model crumbled in the gulf war)
so the russian jets have always been cheap and simpler...yet they achieve their objective.There is a downside that you have rightfully listed.
the mig-25 was dreaded and was fast...the west feared it and thought that the soviets have mastered some new tech....when they ripped open the iraqi mig-25s they found that it had circuits based on vacuum tubes!(vacuum tubes have more em thermal tolerance)
Not Iraqi MIG-25s but a Soviet MIG-25...
Viktor Belenko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
His name became known worldwide on September 6, 1976, when he successfully defected to the West, flying his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 "Foxbat" jet fighter to Hakodate, Japan. This was the first time that Western experts were able to get a close look at the aircraft, and it revealed many secrets and surprises.
Here is an excellent book, if you can find one...
Amazon.com: Mig Pilot: The Final Escape of Lt. Belenko: John Barron: Books
Basically...We had the Japanese held on to the MIG based upon every excuse they can think up while we disassembled the aircraft bolt by bolt and took who knows how many photos before we allowed the Soviets to ship the aircrafts back in crates.
Belenko's defection and the examination of the MIG-25 gave US valuable insights on how Soviet designers operate under very resource and technological limiting conditions. I may take gratuitous jabs at Soviet/Russian aircrafts but the truth cannot be dismissed -- that based upon how much the Soviets are behind the West in terms of technology, calling Soviet-Russian aircrafts, even in jest, as 'junk', the insults are not that far from fact.
We learned from Belenko that the MIG-25 cannot exceed 5g turns and that if both engines are pushed to Mach, both engines must be replaced upon landing. The engine cores would be trashed. We learned that the Foxbat's combat range is so limited that once the pilot fired his missiles, he must return to base. No fuel for air combat maneuvers (ACM).
While we
DO NOT believe that the limitations and flaws in the MIG-25 will inevitably be with later Soviet aircrafts, economics and technological advantages the West enjoy and have been all this time will continue to place Western designs at least one generation ahead of Russian designs.
Nellis AFB Threat Training Facility - MiGs!!! | Parrothead Jeff
We have SU-27s we bought from former Soviet satellites as Cold War trophies. When these former Soviet puppets became freed they need hard cash to sustain their economies, so they called US and ask if we would like to go shopping. We ended up with tanks, avionics, aircrafts, missiles, and assorted junks, even some nuclear weapons related items. I have taken apart Soviet era avionics and am not impressed with the quality of manufacture. Whatever the Russians claim today about their junks, I chop off at least %10 of specs and that is for allowing progress under a freer system.
hmm. mig 21 is back bone of india and Mig 21 derived F7 is back bone of Pakistan and China (for Now).. and its back bone or only bone for some Air forces.. 
