I’d say this issue is settled. The west took air superiority in Iraq in a week. Russia has had 2 years, and doesn’t have it, in ukr.
With the addition of stealth, in bulk, the Russian route is dead and buried.
And the Japanese were considered an inferior race too, even after they steamrolled the russians.
Then everyone got steamrolled.
Oh yeah but they got defeated eventually. A great consolation to the scores who died at the hands of the Japanese, if they were lucky enough to die quickly that is.
Don't apply the russian template to China or anyone else. Also don't assume russia will never stumble into improvement, even if it comes from Iranian or North Korean factories or strategists.
Russia has never designed it's air force to achieve air superiority, they always had the plan of keeping NATO air forces under threat over Soviet air space to degrade NATO air power, protecting their own critical sites by at minimum breaking up attacks and using their own air force in ground attack supporting their primary arm, the ground forces. And they fully expected to send scores of air craft on one way trips in that role knowing the enemy air forces and air defence network would chew them up. Acceptable because the aim was to punch through with ground forces and get inside the enemy's rear and exploit the breakthrough. Whatever it took to achieve that breakthrough. The Soviet air force wouldn't be providing cover for those spearheads, the Shilkas, Iglas, Buks etc would. Russia still uses that same doctrine.
In Ukraine they invaded a country that was equipped and trained in their own doctrine. The initial air raids were light, what idiot would bomb stuff they'd be taking control over in 10 days max anyway?, only means they'd have to do a lot more reconstructions afterwards. When the surprise had past they couldn't get past Ukraine's AD network just like the Soviets intended. So both sides have been stuck doing air support for their ground forces again like the Soviets intended, incurring severe losses as expected.
Betting on China both following the same doctrine
and having equally poor equipment
and being equally inept at is a really dangerous gamble. Complacency is what got an "invisible" F-117 shot down and that pales in comparison to the complacency shown by NATO leadership towards the threat of russia over the last 15+ years. There's been countless assumptions by NATO regarding russia and Ukraine is now paying the price for it in the many tens of thousands of casualties a year.
