Russia's problem is that they sent their best designers to prison or just killed them, and they only allowed the politically connected to design aircraft. And even those designers could only design what the politicians allowed them to design.
That's why they routinely ended up with sheety designs like that POS that flew just on top of the waves and that's what happens when free market competition is interfered with.
They copied the B-52, piece by piece. FAIL.
They copied the F-14, FAIL.
They copied the space shuttle from our own stolen plans, FAIL.
They copied the concord, FAIL.
That my friends is the difference between the private and public sectors.
