You aswered your own statement. If such situation happen to ost squad, he would be wiped, while soviet\USF squad he will retreat for healing
of course not. First the soviet mortar is MUCH more inaccurate, making these chances much lower. and then you have the superior axis units that deal way more dps than soviet ones, thus making wipes much easier to happen when retreating.
people don't use them right, at vet 1 they give huge sight, on maps open maps where your opponent goes too defensive you can see his defenses + paths have camo so you can keep spotting with no problem.
IMO the only thing that can be changed is putting beacons on RETs since if you want to drop something on the field you HAVE to call pathfinders.