The West cannot stop sabotaging itself. This is true now more than ever, but it is not exactly a new phenomenon.
In 1950, underdeveloped US fighter jets faced intense pressure in the Korean skies when they came under attack from Soviet aircraft bearing Chinese markings — but flown by Russian aces. The dogfight was brief yet vicious, ending in a stalemate.
The great irony? Those Chinese fighters were powered by British engines.
Did the Soviets steal the engines or the plans? No. It was a case of great engineering designs being handed over to the enemy through bureaucratic drift and indecisiveness, coupled with the initial overconfidence of the victors of the Second World War.
After the dust settled over the global conflict, the British were simply slow to adapt to new realities. They believed that trade could now be free and that there should be no worries about giving away anything to anybody. After all, the United Nations had just been created, and all defeated European countries were controlled by joint Allied committees.
The problem was that Britain had something the world coveted — including their soon-to-be enemies. Powers across the globe were eager to acquire nuclear secrets, missile technology, or jet engines. The British had begun to master the third.
Meanwhile, the Soviets struggled with development, largely relying on reverse engineering captured German engines. They couldn’t believe their luck when the British offered their top designs on the open market. So, they simply showed up and offered to buy Rolls-Royce Nene-type jet engines upfront.
The British gave the matter some thought. They realized that a power increasingly seen as an enemy was attempting to undermine them. After all, the Soviets were eyeing a military base at the Bosphorus Straits and were dragging their feet on German reunification.
Despite this, the British tried but ultimately failed to backtrack on their openness to trade. “They sold dozens of engines simply because nobody was ready to make the decision to deny them.” No one was prepared to be the first state to officially declare the Soviet Union an antagonist.
In 1947, the United States pressured Great Britain, and British authorities finally shut down the scheme. But by then, it was too late. The Soviets had copied the engine and implemented it into a highly effective aerial design — the MiG-15 fighter jet.
When the Korean War erupted in 1950, the Soviets had everything they needed. Aside from the F-86 Sabre, US jets were no match for the MiG design.
This example sheds light on recurring patterns of Western blunders. From a Central European perspective, Western countries, despite their greater self-confidence, are sometimes too complacent with their superiority in economy, technology, science, and all elements that define a leading civilization in hard power.
Too much self-confidence expands blind spots, making it difficult to grasp the cutthroat realities of other regions, such as Eastern Europe. Poor understanding leads to difficulty differentiating between enemies and friends, resulting in blunders on both extremes.
The silver lining is that the West has often overcome even serious mistakes. After such a weak start, it ultimately stopped the Soviets in Korea, defended its interests, survived the upheaval of decolonization, and won the Cold War.
Perhaps not every mistake must be chased down and erased. Instead, recognizing patterns of error is crucial for the West to avoid repeating them and to focus on fighting the battles that truly need to be fought.
https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/opinion/jet-fighters-russia-western-self-sabotage/