Why did Soviet-built transport airplanes (Antonov and Ilyushin) retain tail gun turrets far later than NATO military aircraft?
For example, the first Il-76 prototype flew in 1971 with a rear turret containing a pair of AM-23 cannon firing 23 x 115 mm ammo.
Initially AM-23 cannon fired the usual variety of anti-aircraft ammo, but late in the process fired special flare and chaff ammo to confuse AAA. I suspect that flares and chaff were merely an attempt to prolong the service life of tail turrets.
Similarly, why did Soviet transports retain glassed in navigators' stations - under the nose - long after NATO converted to radomes?