usf has non-doctrinal recon and soviets have radio intercept, recons and flares. i wouldnt call it outclass.
Well since I see CAS in 95% of team games the recon may as well be non-doc and Axis has all of the relevant cloaking units to begin with. Also IR halftrack is a little bit ridiculous in how effective it is for cost. Like I said in my op, this isn't an "axis op" thread, it's a "buff Soviet detection and make an unused ability do something useful" thread.
I actually like the Major Recon, but it's tied to a crappy unit.
Radio Intercept is nice but it often seems to not be able to keep up with the alert queue by mid-game. I think Intercept should have a text log that you can toggle or, oh I DUNNO, use some of the useless HUD in the bottom mid of the screen.