thermal imaging...

[Imp]

This is why its a major growth area at the moment open terrain & you can pick off your enemy before he sees you like the Gulf War turkey shoot.
Snow makes this hard as you need to use your troops as scouts to find them then attack somewhere suitable.
If its an open map you are in big trouble otherwise you need to pick areas within your vision range for the battles.

Unless you are talking late 90s+ Russian troops generally have better night vision than USA in the game as a rule.