If that's the case, why are our aircraft so easily distinguished from the other? Compare our great aircrafts with the MiG-25 and -31. Also, the MiG-29, SU-27, -30, and -35 are pretty much the same, asthetically. Pilot training aside, that substandard BS they construct never stands up to ours.....and most of our stuff is going on 30 years old. The Raptor and JSF leave this crap in the dust.
The baseline SU-27 & Mig-29 are very different in several aspects-size/weight,payload,range & flight control systems to name a few.The 30/35 etc are all just multi-role improvements over the SU-27,not a different category of fighters.Same goes for the Mig-31 which is derived from the Mig-25.Remember that the collapse of the Soviet Union has left the Russian establishment with little real cash to invest into brand new systems.Tinkering & improving existing stuff like the SU-27 & Mig-29 were deemed more feasible.
The F-15/16 & Mig-29 & SU-27 all came out in rougly the same period( early to mid-70s).
I didn't say you were wrong about the Russians relying design copies (there are some well-established industrial espionage cases). I just pointed out that there are other explanations as to why jet aircraft look similar. If the vast majority of your design criteria are same, the mathematics takes over.
The Russian aircraft indusry's chief customer at the moment is foreign countries. It is these customers that are driving the current evolution of Russian aircraft -- and they want designs that are competitive with western aircraft.
