Soviet Superscience: Difference between revisions

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Not that the US is left out, as long as both sides are in a [[Lensman Arms Race]].

It is worth noting that historically the most recognizable disciplines of any super science--genetics and cybernetics--received a poor start in the USSR as the Party proclaimed those "false sciences" for being "bourgeois" (yes, this makes about as much sense as [[Those Wacky Nazis]] dismissing [[Albert Einstein|Einsteinian relativity]] and the modern theory of the atom as "Jewish physics"). This stance was lifted after Khruschev took power and USSR's first computer was finished in the mid-50s, but it was too late to successfully catch up with the US. The Soviets, however, [[I Love Nuclear Power|loved Nuclear Power]]--the world's first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for a power grid went online in USSR--so there are some roots for the trope to grow from. Of course, the inconsistencies can be [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] by the means of an [[Alternate Universe]], as [[Command ~~and~~ Conquer Red Alert|Red Alert]] testifies.

It is worth noting that historically the most recognizable disciplines of any super science--genetics and cybernetics--received a poor start in the USSR as the Party proclaimed those "false sciences" for being "bourgeois" (yes, this makes about as much sense as [[Those Wacky Nazis]] dismissing [[Albert Einstein|Einsteinian relativity]] and the modern theory of the atom as "Jewish physics"). This stance was lifted after Khruschev took power and USSR's first computer was finished in the mid-50s, but it was too late to successfully catch up with the US. The Soviets, however, [[I Love Nuclear Power|loved Nuclear Power]]--the world's first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for a power grid went online in USSR--so there are some roots for the trope to grow from. Of course, the inconsistencies can be [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] by the means of an [[Alternate Universe]], as [[Command & Conquer: Red Alert|Red Alert]] testifies.

All in all, the Soviets had a mixed record as far as science goes - remember, this is the country that [[wikipedia:Yuri Gagarin|put the first man in space]], but also brought the world [[wikipedia:Lysenkoism|Lysenkoism]], [[wikipedia:Punitive psychiatry in the Soviet Union|the abuse of psychiatry for "rehabilitation" purposes]] and [[wikipedia:Chernobyl disaster|Chernobyl]].

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== Anime & Manga ==

* ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'' is set in an alternate reality where the Cold War never ended and both the United States and the Soviet Union have developed [[Humongous Mecha|Arm Slave]] technology.

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* Pops up in some of Charles Stross' stories. In the novelette ''A Colder War'', set in an [[Alternate History]] where the Cold War was fought with the powers of the [[Cthulhu Mythos|Great Old Ones]], the Soviets not only weaponize shoggoths and deployed them in Afghanistan, but they have an ultimate doomsday weapon called 'K-Thulu' in a giant concrete bunker in the Ukraine. ''Missile Gap,'' set in a world where Earth of 1962 was duplicated and laid on a gigantic disc, has the Soviet Union exploring the new world in a giant nuclear-powered ekranoplan.

** Similarly, one of the [[MacGuffin|MacGuffins]] at the core of ''[[The Laundry Series|The Jennifer Morgue]]'' is a "Gravedust" rig on a sunken Russian submarine that British intelligence believe was used to seek guidance from recently-deceased Politburo members in case the West struck first. {{spoiler|It turns out to be built to dial up something much, ''much'' older...}}

* In the ''[[Necroscope]]'' books the Soviets have an advanced Psychic intelligence service (almost as [[Creator Provincialism|advanced as the UK's one]], the US doesn't get a look in). Their attempt at a ''[[Star Trek]]'' style [[Deflector Shield]] bubble to cover ''[[Up to Eleven|The Entire USSR]]'' and protect it from nuclear attack doesn't go well and in fact [[Phlebotinum Overload|accidentally blows a hole in the fabric of Space-Time creating a gateway to a vampire ridden hellhole]]. Erm, [[Epic Fail|oopsie]].

* [[Oleg Divov]]'s ''Zombie Trail'' trilogy is all about Soviet "psychotronic" weapons and their [[Gone Horribly Wrong]] side effects. The original Project came to be after an American misinformation campagin led the Soviet leadership to believe that the US was experimenting with [[Psychic Powers]]. Unintentionally, the resulting Soviet psychic program bore fruit. A "psychotronic cannon" was built that could be used to [[Mind Control]] people on a massive scale. However, it had to be operated by an extremely powerful psychic. In order to create one (or more), the Children's Program was set up that involved subjecting 1000 children to radiation, hoping the resulting mutation would be psychic in nature. It was a near-complete disaster, as all but 5 children died. Some of the survivors, though, did become the coveted super-psychics, although they refused to fire the cannon. Additional experiments were conducted on metropolitan scale by building powerful mind-control generators in major Soviet cities that would eliminate all dissent. They worked for a while, until interdimensional holes started opening, letting in [[Energy Beings]] that took over humans and became so-called "zombies" (of the fast variety). You'd think the experiments would stop in a [[What Have I Done]] fashion. No such luck. The third novel reveals that the modern-day Russian version of the Project succeeded in subliminaly influencing the world population into thinking that everything Russian is cool.

* ''Red Plenty'' by Francis Spufford is an [[Alternate History]] novel in which the Soviet Union decides to outdo capitalism by creating a proper planned economy with the help of computers and cybernetics. The novel is based on actual work being done at the time behind the Iron Curtain but, as in real life, cynical realism triumphs over communist idealism and only token reforms are made.

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* Recently, played straight in the ''[[Fringe]]'' episode "Earthling".

* A less antagonistic variety in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'': the Russians are the only other nation on Earth that has a working Stargate program and even gets a couple of starships. Of course, that's because a Stargate just happened to fall into their laps, which they combined with a DHD they had taken from the Nazis. Technically, the United States is paying rent to Russia for the use of their Stargate when the one the US had at the time was lost, and the Russians asked if they could take some of that rent in the form of a cool starship.

* In the first episode of [[The Tick]] live action TV series, the Tick and Arthur must thwart the Red Scare, a robot made in the 1970s by the Soviet Union, programed to destroy the US President. Unaware of the present year however, the Red Scare seeks to destroy former President Carter.

* In the first episode of [[The Tick (animation)]] live action TV series, the Tick and Arthur must thwart the Red Scare, a robot made in the 1970s by the Soviet Union, programed to destroy the US President. Unaware of the present year however, the Red Scare seeks to destroy former President Carter.

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== Videogames ==

* The ''[[Command and Conquer Red Alert Series|Command & Conquer: Red Alert]]'' series gives those [[Dirty Communists]] mind-controlled squids, cloning vats, Weaponized Tesla Coils, six-legged amphibious boats with double Tesla coils, armored [[Everything Is Worse With Bears|war bears]], huge zeppelins with megaton bombs, nuclear [[Negative Space Wedgie|vacuum]] ICBMs, weapon-stealing tanks, magnetic satellites [[Serial Escalation|AND MORE]].

** Don't forget the mancannon-equipped amphibious transports, which also function as AA support. They are quite capable of shooting the aforementioned armoured war bears. Talk about abnormal ammo...

** A mention should also be made of the mind-control radio towers that drive the plot of ''[[Command ~~and~~ Conquer Red Alert 2|Red Alert 2]]''.

** A mention should also be made of the mind-control radio towers that drive the plot of ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2|Red Alert 2]]''.

** This is far less noticeable in the first Red Alert, without expansions, partially because it has ''far'' less superscience overall, and partly because the Allies aren't far behind in superscience, their teleporter balancing out a Soviet invincibility generator, leaving only the weaponized Tesla coil to shift the balance in the Soviets' favour (and even then, the Allied GPS system is arguably far enough into the future of the period for it to count as a sort of super-tech). The expansions added a lot more super-science, but on both sides, setting the trend for the future games: the Soviets have Superscience, but only ''slightly'' more than the Allies<ref>Yes, that does mean Red Alert technically fails the "far beyond their Western counterparts" part of this trope's description.</ref>.

*** One could argue that the Soviets are actually ''lagging behind'' technologically - a large amount of the "super-science" is more or less a redux of the prior game's technology - compared to the Allies, who between Red Alert 1 and 2, developed lasers, cloaking devices, and weather control. Red Alert 1 might play it straight, but essentially every game from 2 onwards might just count as a subversion.

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* [[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]] recycles this in space by bringing in a University of Planet faction, ostensibly just following a [[For Science!]] ideology, but actually being thoroughly Russian in terms of flavour.

* ''[[Heavy Weapon]]'' has the Red Star's forces. You fight regular troops like missile helicopters, tanks, bomber planes, SCUD missiles and ICBM missiles. Then you fight mini satellites with [[Death Ray|death rays]], [[Humongous Mecha]], and even a [[Cool Airship]] that ''SUMMONS METEORS'' via [[Tractor Beam|tractor beams]]

* In ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops|Call of Duty Black Ops]]'' this is played straight both in the main storyline and partially in the Nazi Zombies mini-game. In the story-line the Russians are able to weaponize a highly lethal toxin that has been shown to kill men in mere minutes and is not easily dispersed by wind making it an effective area denial weapon and weapon of mass destruction. Furthermore they have access to anachronistic weapons that won't be introduced until the 70s or 80s, (the Americans showcase this too though) have mastered drug-induced brainwashing so advanced that you can program a man to do anything that you desire {{spoiler|even make Mason and/or Oswald kill John F. Kennedy,}} and have somehow found a way to create a base on the ocean floor without it being crushed from the sheer pressure it would faced with at such depths. Somewhat averted in the Nazi Zombies storyline as most of the technological achievements are actually achieved by Group 935 which is an international organization and have more or less equally introduced the same level of technological advancement to the Americans as they have to the Russians. However the Zombie map "Ascension" still showcases some pretty advanced technology on the Russians' part, they have created flying platforms, genetically enhanced monkeys, the Thunder Gun (a hand-held cannon that fires high-powered waves of compressed air) which contrary to Richtofen's beliefs was not made by Dr. Maxis but Dr. Gersh a Russian scientist, and Dr. Gersh as mentioned already created a small device which generates a miniature '''black hole'''.

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[The Tick]]'' had the Russians working on a sentient beard, so the US developed a mustache.

* ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'' had the Russians working on a sentient beard, so the US developed a mustache.

** Another episode [[Weaponized Landmark|had the Kremlin domes doubling as ''missiles'']].

== Web Originals ==

* In ''[[The Return (fanfic)|The Return]]'' we have a group of nuclear powered, female, cyborg, Soviet, mercenary assassins.

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** [[Dragon (magazine)]] #204 had an article on Soviet psychotronic weapons.

* The Soviet Union, apart from creating apemen, was actively working on [[wikipedia:Flying tank|flying tanks]] and [http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2010/03/12/ekranoplan/ flying] [[wikipedia:Ground effect vehicle|ships]] built to skim over the surface of the ocean as fast heavy transports that would work below radar.

** US worked on flying submarines too. But the Soviets took it [[Up to Eleven]] when they actually started cutting steel for a nuclear submarine aircraft carrier/amphibious warfare ship. Sadly, it was canceled immediately afterwards.

* The world's only extant modern balanced ternary computer, a design that allows for more efficient handling of many computational algorithms (including basic addition and multiplication), is a Soviet design from the late 50s (Setun). Designs and theories have appeared in the West as well as one of the world's first computing devices, a 19th century wooden calculating machine, but no ternary computers have been actually built outside of the Soviet Union due to general lack of interest and the ubiquity of binary hardware.

* Possibly worthy of mention is the use of supercavitation for torpedoes. Water creates quite a lot of drag and severely limits the top speed that a projectile travelling through it may achieve. With supercavitation, a bubble of water vapour forms around the projectile, greatly reducing drag. The Soviets started experimenting with the phenomenon in the 60s, and by 1972 a supercavitating torpedo, the VA-111 Shkval, was put into service. Its top speed is in excess of 370km/h (in comparison, 50km/h is at the top end of what a nuclear submarine may reach as of this writing; the US made Mk-54 torpedo achieves about 75km/h). Eventually other countries got in on the act: since the 90s the US Navy has also been developing its own roster of supercavitating projectiles, DARPA is thinking of supercavitating troop carriers, Germany has deployed the creatively named "Superkavitierender Unterwasserlaufkörper" in 2004, and even Iran claims to have tested a supercavitating torpedo in 2006. Superscience marches on.

* In the field of space, there's Polyus (the world's only space battle station, which fortunately for the West failed on launch) and a ground-mounted laser that the Soviets used on the shuttle Challenger as part of brinksmanship over SDI (and worked a bit too well; Challenger was damaged to the extent that it was almost unable to reenter the atmosphere).

** The Russians were quite keen on experimenting with space stations in general. Once they lost the Moon race, they aimed for and pretty much achieved many records for longest stays in orbit. Russian space habitation technology is possibly still the best in the world.

* A real-life example of "abandoned soviet experiment" is the NK-33 closed circuit rocket engine. Originally intended for use in the attempt to get a man on the Moon, the prototypes were supposed to be destroyed once that project was cancelled. Sore losers the Soviets. Fortunately, several NK-33 engines were hidden in a warehouse by their designer, Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov. That happened in the 70s. Fast forward to the 90s, when somewhat improved relations between East and West, and presumably some money, helped the old relics emerge from storage, where they proved to be still cutting edge tech despite being two decades old. If Wikipedia is to be believed, the NK-33 achieves the highest thrust-to-mass ratio among all currently existing rocket engines, and it, or variations thereof, are now used by satellite launch companies like Orbital Sciences Corporation and several future space projects plan to employ them as well.

* The US played this trope straight ''twice'' in the 50s and 60s. The military-industrial complex and "tough on Communism" politicians warned the American people about a "bomber gap" and then a "missile gap," saying that the US was falling behind the USSR in weapons production when in fact the reverse was true.

** These gaps were based on truly heinous intelligence gathering. In one example the USSR displayed a new strategic bomber by flying one formation of them over a military parade repeatedly; the US assumed each appearance was a different formation. A little later, US aerial reconnaissance photographed dozens of bombers at one Soviet airbase. Via reckless multiplication they assumed every airbase had a similar stock when in fact the group of bombers photographed was the ''entire'' production run at the time.

** US intelligence has a running history of making inflated evaluations of enemy capabilities. For example, the [[Mi G]]-25 'Foxbat' interceptor (created in response to the US B-70 program, which was canceled after one of the two prototypes was lost) was monitored flying over Egypt at a speed of Mach 3.2, which was assumed to be the normal performance of the aircraft, and was believed to be an agile dogfighter (with the US F-15 being designed to counter it). Only after Lt. Belenko defected with a [[Mi G]]-25 in 1976 was the [[Mi G]]-25 discovered to be a relatively unmaneuverable high-altitude interceptor, and that its demonstrated speed capacity would require replacing the engines after the flight.