I'll put it like this. I have a very insufferably liberal friend (a 'rah rah Ukraine' 'Russian jets are a joke, I know because of articles and DCS world') that I play games with because he's a soft-boi who I like playing games with even if I don't like his politics.
Naturally, he was very excited about Harry Potter coming out. And yet, he gushed about the game for about a week after it came out and I haven't heard dick about it since. It's a mediocre game, at best.
I play dcs. Of course American jets from the 2000s are better than Soviet jets from the 1980s, because that's what's in the game right now. They can't make a newer Russian jet because everything newer is classified.
They can't make a newer Russian jet because everything newer is classified.
Also, the Russian armed forces have only produced two non-soviet designed fighter jets, and of those they've built something like 17 combat models combined.
The same is true for the US, in that they only really have two post cold war designs but they've built well over a thousand between the F-35 and F-22.
Yeah I just mean there's a difference between 1980s jets like the f18a hornet or su27 and modern jets like the f18e super hornet and su35. They're pretty much the same jet, but 1 has newer systems and engines and stuff.
I think the worst point here is OP's friend 100% doesn't realize and definitely never heard of Flanker 2.0(highly regarded flight model back in the day) and definitely isn't aware who and what Eagle Dynamics even are.