Learning Curve
True, but that was starting to change in the late 1980s. When the Cold War ended, the Soviets were attempting to follow the NATO model, fielding increasing numbers of Mainstay AWACs so that their fighters/interceptors would not be so reliant on GCI. Also, their new fighters (Fulcrums and Flankers) were equipped with passive IR detection equipment so that they wouldn't be so reliant on radar (making them harder to detect by ELINT means). This was pretty innovative for the time, and has just recently started to be implemented on Western combat aircraft.
I am not claiming that the WTO would have won an air war with NATO. The latter had a decided edge in electronics and training. I just don't think it would be the cakewalk that some- Like Clancy and Bond, for example- think it would have been. NATO air superiority after the first 48 hours? That's a resounding NO from me.
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