Russia Revives Long Range Bomber Force
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Russia Revives Long Range Bomber Force
Russian Bomber Revives Long-Haul Mission
By DMITRY SOLOVYOV, REUTERS, MOSCOW
MOSCOW — Russia’s strategic bombers have resumed their Cold War practice of flying long-haul missions to areas patrolled by NATO and the U.S., top generals said Aug. 9.
A Russian bomber flew over a U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam on Aug. 8 and “exchanged smiles” with U.S. pilots who scrambled to track it, said Maj. Gen. Pavel Androsov, head of long-range aviation in the Russian air force. “It has always been the tradition of our long-range aviation to fly far into the ocean, to meet [U.S.] aircraft carriers and greet [U.S. pilots] visually,” Androsov told a news conference. “Yesterday we revived this tradition, and two of our young crews paid a visit to the area of the [U.S. Pacific Naval Activities] base of Guam.”
President Vladimir Putin has sought to make Russia more assertive in the world. Putin has boosted defense spending and sought to raise morale in the armed forces, which were starved of funding in the chaos that followed the fall of the Soviet Union.
Androsov said the sortie by the two turboprop Tu-95MS bombers, from a base near Blagoveshchensk in the Far East, lasted 13 hours. The Tu-95, code-named “Bear” by NATO, is Russia’s Cold War icon and may stay in service until 2040. “I think the result was good. We met our colleagues — fighter jet pilots from [U.S.] aircraft carriers. We exchanged smiles and returned home,” Androsov said.
Cold War cat-and-mouse
The bombers give Russia the capability of launching a devastating nuclear strike even if the nuclear arsenals on its own territory are wiped out. During the Cold War, they played elaborate airborne games of cat-and-mouse with Western air forces.
Lt. Gen. Igor Khvorov, air forces chief of staff, said the West would have to come to terms with Russia asserting its geopolitical presence around the globe. “But I don’t see anything unusual. This is business as usual ... like it is normal for the U.S. to fly from its continent to Guam or, say, the island of [Diego} Garcia,” Khvorov said.
Young pilots of strategic bombers passed a series of tests Aug. 8, including missile launches. “We fired eight cruise missiles, and all hit bull’s eye,” Khvorov said.
He said one crew had taken off from Engels in southwestern Russia, hit a target in the north and then flown thousands of kilometers before landing in the Far East.Engels is home to Russia’s supersonic Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers, in service since 1987 and code-named “Blackjack” by NATO while called “White Swan” by Russian pilots.
The generals said that, under Putin, long-range aviation no longer needs fuel, enjoys better maintenance and personnel receive higher wages — not the least because the Kremlin leader once made a five-hour sortie as part of a Tu-160 crew. “The president learned about the pilots’ work the hard way,” Khvorov said. “This one flight yielded an awful lot.”
By DMITRY SOLOVYOV, REUTERS, MOSCOW
MOSCOW — Russia’s strategic bombers have resumed their Cold War practice of flying long-haul missions to areas patrolled by NATO and the U.S., top generals said Aug. 9.
A Russian bomber flew over a U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam on Aug. 8 and “exchanged smiles” with U.S. pilots who scrambled to track it, said Maj. Gen. Pavel Androsov, head of long-range aviation in the Russian air force. “It has always been the tradition of our long-range aviation to fly far into the ocean, to meet [U.S.] aircraft carriers and greet [U.S. pilots] visually,” Androsov told a news conference. “Yesterday we revived this tradition, and two of our young crews paid a visit to the area of the [U.S. Pacific Naval Activities] base of Guam.”
President Vladimir Putin has sought to make Russia more assertive in the world. Putin has boosted defense spending and sought to raise morale in the armed forces, which were starved of funding in the chaos that followed the fall of the Soviet Union.
Androsov said the sortie by the two turboprop Tu-95MS bombers, from a base near Blagoveshchensk in the Far East, lasted 13 hours. The Tu-95, code-named “Bear” by NATO, is Russia’s Cold War icon and may stay in service until 2040. “I think the result was good. We met our colleagues — fighter jet pilots from [U.S.] aircraft carriers. We exchanged smiles and returned home,” Androsov said.
Cold War cat-and-mouse
The bombers give Russia the capability of launching a devastating nuclear strike even if the nuclear arsenals on its own territory are wiped out. During the Cold War, they played elaborate airborne games of cat-and-mouse with Western air forces.
Lt. Gen. Igor Khvorov, air forces chief of staff, said the West would have to come to terms with Russia asserting its geopolitical presence around the globe. “But I don’t see anything unusual. This is business as usual ... like it is normal for the U.S. to fly from its continent to Guam or, say, the island of [Diego} Garcia,” Khvorov said.
Young pilots of strategic bombers passed a series of tests Aug. 8, including missile launches. “We fired eight cruise missiles, and all hit bull’s eye,” Khvorov said.
He said one crew had taken off from Engels in southwestern Russia, hit a target in the north and then flown thousands of kilometers before landing in the Far East.Engels is home to Russia’s supersonic Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers, in service since 1987 and code-named “Blackjack” by NATO while called “White Swan” by Russian pilots.
The generals said that, under Putin, long-range aviation no longer needs fuel, enjoys better maintenance and personnel receive higher wages — not the least because the Kremlin leader once made a five-hour sortie as part of a Tu-160 crew. “The president learned about the pilots’ work the hard way,” Khvorov said. “This one flight yielded an awful lot.”
The generals said that, under Putin, long-range aviation no longer needs fuel
Dear god! I know he's a powerful man but has he really commissioned a fleet of perpetual motion strategic bombers?
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If he's not careful he'll soon find out what it's like to be on the receiving end of coal-fired B-52s 
Looks like the Tu-95s never came close enough to warrant an intercept.
http://www.kuam.com/news/23950.aspx
http://www.kuam.com/news/23941.aspx
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The generals said that, under Putin, long-range aviation no longer needs fuel, enjoys better maintenance and personnel receive higher wages — not the least because the Kremlin leader once made a five-hour sortie as part of a Tu-160 crew. “The president learned about the pilots’ work the hard way,” Khvorov said. “This one flight yielded an awful lot.”
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Looks like Elmendorf will be busy. I wonder if the Russians are hoping for their first intercept by an F-22....
Elmendorf welcomes F-22A Raptor
Russian Nuclear Bombers Hold Exercises Over North Pole
Russian strategic bombers on August 14 began five days of exercises over the North Pole, marking the latest in a series of displays of Moscow’s military muscle. The nuclear-capable bombers will practice firing cruise missiles, navigation in the polar region and aerial refueling maneuvers, the Russian air force said in a statement.
The exercises come barely a week after Russian strategic Tu-95 bombers flew over the Pacific to within a few hundred kilometers (miles) of the U.S. military base on the island of Guam — and, according to a Russian general, exchanged grins with US fighter pilots sent to intercept. They also follow recent attempts by Moscow to bolster Russia’s territorial claims in the Arctic region.
One Russian air force officer, who asked not to be identified, told AFP he expected U.S. interceptors would once again make their presence felt during this week’s exercises. “It is a traditional practice for military pilots to see foreign pilots come up to meet them and say to hello,” he said. “The United States are aware of our exercise,” he added.
Russia’s long-range bombers have been involved in a number of other exercises in recent months. On July 20, Norway and Britain scrambled its fighter planes after Norway detected Russian bombers flying over the North sea between Norway and Britain.
About 20 Russian aircraft will take part in the polar exercises: TU-95s (Tupolevs) a long-range strategic bomber; TU-22s, the strategic supersonic bomber most used by Russia; and Il-78s (Ilyushins), a four-engine aerial refueling aircraft.
Elmendorf welcomes F-22A Raptor
Russian Nuclear Bombers Hold Exercises Over North Pole
Russian strategic bombers on August 14 began five days of exercises over the North Pole, marking the latest in a series of displays of Moscow’s military muscle. The nuclear-capable bombers will practice firing cruise missiles, navigation in the polar region and aerial refueling maneuvers, the Russian air force said in a statement.
The exercises come barely a week after Russian strategic Tu-95 bombers flew over the Pacific to within a few hundred kilometers (miles) of the U.S. military base on the island of Guam — and, according to a Russian general, exchanged grins with US fighter pilots sent to intercept. They also follow recent attempts by Moscow to bolster Russia’s territorial claims in the Arctic region.
One Russian air force officer, who asked not to be identified, told AFP he expected U.S. interceptors would once again make their presence felt during this week’s exercises. “It is a traditional practice for military pilots to see foreign pilots come up to meet them and say to hello,” he said. “The United States are aware of our exercise,” he added.
Russia’s long-range bombers have been involved in a number of other exercises in recent months. On July 20, Norway and Britain scrambled its fighter planes after Norway detected Russian bombers flying over the North sea between Norway and Britain.
About 20 Russian aircraft will take part in the polar exercises: TU-95s (Tupolevs) a long-range strategic bomber; TU-22s, the strategic supersonic bomber most used by Russia; and Il-78s (Ilyushins), a four-engine aerial refueling aircraft.
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Torygraph: Russia to resume Cold War bomber flights
Russia will immediately resume long-range strategic bomber flights on a "permanent" basis, ending a 15-year suspension of the missions, President Vladimir Putin has said.
Mr Putin said a halt in long-range bombers' flights after the Soviet collapse had affected Russia's security as other nations had continued such missions - a oblique reference to the US.
"I have made a decision to resume regular flights of Russian strategic aviation," he said. "Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly and on a strategic scale. Our pilots have been grounded for too long; they are happy to start a new life."
Soviet bombers routinely flew such missions to areas from which nuclear-tipped cruise missiles could be launched at the United States. But that stopped in the post-Soviet economic meltdown.
In Washington, a State Department Spokesman said the US was not troubled by the decision. "It's interesting. We certainly are not in the kind of posture we were with what used to be the Soviet Union. It's a different era. If Russia feels as though they want to take some of these old aircraft out of mothballs and get them flying again, that's their decision."
Mr Putin's comments came as he and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, attended an unprecedented show of joint military force amid fears that the Russian leader is trying to turn an increasingly powerful central Asian alliance into a second Warsaw Pact. The United States will be anxiously watching the military manoeuvres - held under the auspices of the six-member Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) - from afar after its request to send observers was rejected.
Washington has plenty of reasons to be uneasy. Founded in 2001, the SCO, which includes the four central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as China and Russia, is rapidly gaining a reputation as an anti-Western organisation. That image seems to be one that Mr Putin is happy to cultivate. Analysts say that the Russian president believes the organisation is emerging as a bloc that is rapidly becoming powerful enough to stand up to the West...............
Russia will immediately resume long-range strategic bomber flights on a "permanent" basis, ending a 15-year suspension of the missions, President Vladimir Putin has said.
Mr Putin said a halt in long-range bombers' flights after the Soviet collapse had affected Russia's security as other nations had continued such missions - a oblique reference to the US.
"I have made a decision to resume regular flights of Russian strategic aviation," he said. "Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly and on a strategic scale. Our pilots have been grounded for too long; they are happy to start a new life."
Soviet bombers routinely flew such missions to areas from which nuclear-tipped cruise missiles could be launched at the United States. But that stopped in the post-Soviet economic meltdown.
In Washington, a State Department Spokesman said the US was not troubled by the decision. "It's interesting. We certainly are not in the kind of posture we were with what used to be the Soviet Union. It's a different era. If Russia feels as though they want to take some of these old aircraft out of mothballs and get them flying again, that's their decision."
Mr Putin's comments came as he and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, attended an unprecedented show of joint military force amid fears that the Russian leader is trying to turn an increasingly powerful central Asian alliance into a second Warsaw Pact. The United States will be anxiously watching the military manoeuvres - held under the auspices of the six-member Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) - from afar after its request to send observers was rejected.
Washington has plenty of reasons to be uneasy. Founded in 2001, the SCO, which includes the four central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as China and Russia, is rapidly gaining a reputation as an anti-Western organisation. That image seems to be one that Mr Putin is happy to cultivate. Analysts say that the Russian president believes the organisation is emerging as a bloc that is rapidly becoming powerful enough to stand up to the West...............
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BBC: Russia 'renewing bomber patrols'
Russia is resuming a Soviet-era practice of sending its bomber aircraft on long-range flights, President Vladimir Putin has said. Mr Putin said the move to resume the flights after a 15 year suspension was in response to security threats posed by other military powers. He said 14 bomber aircraft had taken off from seven airfields across Russia.........
Russian media reported earlier on Friday that long-range bombers had been flying over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A Russian air force spokesman said several pairs of bombers were in the air "accompanied by Nato planes," Itar-Tass news agency said. Nato said it was aware of the flights but had no comment on whether the Russian bombers had been accompanied by Nato planes.
Itar-Tass quoted Russian air force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky as saying: "At present, several pairs of Tu-160 and Tu-95MS aircraft are in the air over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which are accompanied by Nato planes." .......
Russia is resuming a Soviet-era practice of sending its bomber aircraft on long-range flights, President Vladimir Putin has said. Mr Putin said the move to resume the flights after a 15 year suspension was in response to security threats posed by other military powers. He said 14 bomber aircraft had taken off from seven airfields across Russia.........
Russian media reported earlier on Friday that long-range bombers had been flying over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A Russian air force spokesman said several pairs of bombers were in the air "accompanied by Nato planes," Itar-Tass news agency said. Nato said it was aware of the flights but had no comment on whether the Russian bombers had been accompanied by Nato planes.
Itar-Tass quoted Russian air force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky as saying: "At present, several pairs of Tu-160 and Tu-95MS aircraft are in the air over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which are accompanied by Nato planes." .......
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Norwegian televison just showed stills from tonights intercepts. (They showed Backfires as well as a Midas refueling a flight of two Foxbats or Foxhounds)
According to Norwegian MOD, 14 aircraft was intercepted. . Two or more QRA aircraft were airborne continuously for 10 hrs from 0300 this morning, 8 aircraft sharing the load. (Bodř Sqns providing the aircraft)
The Russian aircraft simulated profiles for release of strategic weapons according the MOD.
The Russian air force has flown more aircraft west of the North Cape the last month than they have done in 6 months the last few years.
The socialists in our goverment are going to struggle with their plan of not replacing the F-16s when the time comes......
According to Norwegian MOD, 14 aircraft was intercepted. . Two or more QRA aircraft were airborne continuously for 10 hrs from 0300 this morning, 8 aircraft sharing the load. (Bodř Sqns providing the aircraft)
The Russian aircraft simulated profiles for release of strategic weapons according the MOD.
The Russian air force has flown more aircraft west of the North Cape the last month than they have done in 6 months the last few years.
The socialists in our goverment are going to struggle with their plan of not replacing the F-16s when the time comes......
Not_a_boffin
And some Sea Harriers too? It was, after all, originally intended to intercept, shadow and deal with Bears. The Russians recently visited Exercise Neptune Warrior..........
I do recall seeing a picture of a Bear being shadowed by a Shar.
And some Sea Harriers too? It was, after all, originally intended to intercept, shadow and deal with Bears. The Russians recently visited Exercise Neptune Warrior..........
I do recall seeing a picture of a Bear being shadowed by a Shar.
Last edited by WE Branch Fanatic; 18th Aug 2007 at 12:26.
None of this has anything to do with the fact that there is an election in Russia in May next year?
Technically Mr Putin cannot put himself up for election, but Russia is a country full of surprises, so who knows what will happen...
Technically Mr Putin cannot put himself up for election, but Russia is a country full of surprises, so who knows what will happen...
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Of course, if Mr Putin stepped down, some nice pro-Western chap would slide in to power without any opposition. Not the next member of the FSB cabal that's been groomed for the job... 
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I'm sorry WE but my (limited) experience of harrier ops is that they just run out of gogo juice too soon, are too slow and dependent on a sinkable airfield.
Remind me again of the weapon fit vis max endurance of the sea jet please, and lets put this to rest once and for all.
You can only surprise the sleeping bear once......
Nomex donned.
glad rag.
Remind me again of the weapon fit vis max endurance of the sea jet please, and lets put this to rest once and for all.
You can only surprise the sleeping bear once......
Nomex donned.
glad rag.
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How much of this new Russian activity do you reckon is down to us deploying Typhoon on QRA and the U.S having the F-22 on guard...I read today in a spotter magazine how our U.S friends deployed some RC135 thingymajigs to Mildenhall and god bless the Boys and girls at Boscombe deployed a BAC 111 with a pod on its belly to happen to be in the same airspace as the Indian Sukoi's in the vain hope of an emission, strikes me as a tit for tat Elint fest!!
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I guess someone figured out that a cold war world was better militarily for everyone, than the post cold war world of terrorism, and US dominance in every corner of the planet.
And, what happens to the Open Skies Treaty? Or is that going into the bin?
And what possibly do the Russians have to gain from conducting such activity, from a military standpoint? Obviously, not much. How about politically? Is this in response to the missle shield the US is building in Poland?
And, what happens to the Open Skies Treaty? Or is that going into the bin?
And what possibly do the Russians have to gain from conducting such activity, from a military standpoint? Obviously, not much. How about politically? Is this in response to the missle shield the US is building in Poland?