No, they're not. All six are currently alongside. However - it's not "engine problems" that's put them there, it's a combination of normal operational tempo and upkeep.

Its either the pandemic or those protests last year. Things aren't exactly rosy in mother Russia.

Don't believe everything you read from Sir H, the man's clearly part of the official establishment (I think he describes himself as a civil servant, but nobody really knows).

Putin issues veiled nuclear war in Europe threat if Ukraine joins NATO and tries to recover the Crimea.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/08/vladi...nato-16066912/

Uk considering sending Typhoons and the Navy as support.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/08/russi...oyed-16067793/

Threatening nuclear war sounds like the final threat in his basket as all other threats he has issued have fallen on deaf ears.

Er, no he's not - or at least not any more. Also a reservist.

He has a realistic perspective on the actual facts and drivers behind stories, rather than the "surely something must be done/everything is terrible/horrendous waste of taxpayers money" headlines. There are often very good - or at least understandable - reasons why things are the way they are, rather than simplistic solutions in a complex world.

Amusing to see the Russian MoD trying to talk up the size of their landing ships - they look diddy compared to the Wasp class.

https://www.voanews.com/a/top-russia...s/6434452.html

Top Russian Commanders Arrive in Belarus for Military Drills

Top Russian commanders arrived in neighboring Belarus on Wednesday, set to oversee 30,000 Russian troops as they train for 10 days with the Belarusian military in the latest show of Moscow’s force along the Ukrainian border.

Russia has moved two battalions of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and numerous fighter jets into Belarus for the exercises, with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian armed forces’ General Staff, in command of the drills that start on Thursday.….

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...ades-rcna15584

Biden administration firms up plans to get Americans out of Ukraine if Russia invades

Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division could be called in to support Americans fleeing the country.

Americans who need help getting out of Ukraine if Russia invades could be brought through Poland and receive support from U.S. troops, a senior defense official and a U.S. official told NBC News on Wednesday.

If U.S. troops are needed to support an evacuation, soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division would be called in to set up checkpoints for medical screening and administrative processes as well as provide logistical support and any necessary medical aid to care for people in Poland, the officials said.

Members of the 82nd Airborne have not been ordered to go into Ukraine to evacuate anyone at this point, the sources said, but Pentagon officials have indicated using them for such an operation is possible if needed…..

2xB-52s holding over the UK today - holding in two very separate areas and then I saw at least one track in to Fairford, so suspect both are there now.

Fun callsign too. There is a thread on JB.

Ah ok, I see! I only saw the one holding over the Wash and the one over the Moray Firth. Yes, I noticed the callsigns!

B-52H c/s HATE11-14 all at RAF Fairford now after detours for range details. Part of a pre-planned European Bomber Task Force deployment. May be 4 more coming soon.

Also F-15C/Ds from 48 FW RAF Lakenheath deployed to Poland with live miisiles already loaded to beef up NATO Air Policing mission.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FLPfQmsV...g&name=900x900

Also F-15E from 4 FW - forward deployed at RAF Lakenheath for some time - now on NATO Air Policing in Estonia.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ines-next-week

It Looks Like Russia Wants To All But Wall Off Ukraine's Coastlines Next Week

The Russian government has reportedly issued notices warning mariners and aviators to avoid significant portions of the northern end of the Black Sea, as well as the adjacent Sea of Azov, next week ostensibly due to upcoming live-fire naval exercises. The obvious concern is that this could amount to a de facto blockade of Ukraine's southern coastlines, which in turn might be part of preparations for new large-scale Russian military intervention into that country.…


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....93bc05b7a.jpeg

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...in-kaliningrad

Russian MiG-31s Armed With Air-Launched Ballistic Missiles Have Arrived In Kaliningrad

Somewhat of a hysterical headline - plenty of gaps between them and along the coast for NATO ISARs missions.

Maybe Ireland could loan Ukraine some of their fishing fleet?...

RT propaganda - its something they've been fiddling with for years, and the airframe is hardly new.

There is a Russian airline Volga-Dnepr AN-124 at EGNX this morning, I couldn't see if they were ofloading tanks or troops though. ;)