Russia restarts Cold War patrols

BBC ^ | Friday, 17 August 2007, 16:37 | n/a

[fishhound]

Good One.

[hdstmf]

After 15 years of little or no maintenance, demoralized crews and fuel shortages during that time those 14 TU-95s are not much of a threat. Our B-52s have been constantly upgraded and flown by real professionals. No comparison.
The Russians may be lucky to fly one mission and get home. We will not ignore them, but our current air defenses can take them out.

[Xenophon450]

Hmm

[nw_arizona_granny]

I found one article last night that said he put 20 planes in the air.

[rmlew]

Is that a WW2 era T-34?

[Dilbert56]

Natan Scharansky wrote about how governments that fail to take care of their citizens have to invent an adversary to keep the people willing to sacrifice. It can be internal, a la Hitler and the Jews, or external, like Saddam and Kuwait. Putin’s recent bare-chested pictures and saber-rattling seem to fit this modus operandi.

[G8 Diplomat]

Yeah

[sukhoi-30mki]

The Russian bomber fleet(Tu-95 & 160) have been the cream of their strategic aviation.They have retired scores of fighters & other systems to keep the bombers flying & crewed.

They have pretty much the same capabilities as the B-52 or B-1B,esp when it comes to launching long range cruise missiles.

[fishhound]

I think it will be curious to see how it is that he passes from office. Will he be elected out or will he pick a successor? I have heard Sharanski speak on the radio, he is sharp.

[ArmyTeach]

In the 1980s, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent changes in the Soviet Union, Russian fighter planes regularly penetrated US air space over Alaska to test our defense. Our fighters from Eielson Air Force Base immediately responded, took to the air and ‘escorted’ the Russian planes out.
Recently there was a move out of Washington to close Eielson. The Fairbanks community closed ranks and when hearings were held here on the issue. There was standing room only as citizen after citizen testified to the air base’s strategic importance, including the chancellor of our university (who happens to be a retired Army general). Eielson is still here, in fact it is expanded. They’ll be on the watch for ‘uninvited guests.’

[fishhound]

Thanks for posting that. That is something I and probably many others would never have known.

[Tommyjo]

The Bear Ds of the Russian Navy are all retired. The Navy only uses the Tu-142 Bear F on anti-sub patrols and the Air Force with new-build Tu-95MS Bear Hs.

The role of the Bear H is a long-range air-launched cruise missile platform. The Russian ALCMs range greatly exceeds anything in the USAF inventory. The Tu-95MS can stand-off thousands of miles away and launch up to 16 missiles.

[Tommyjo]

You fail to understand that the Tu-95MS can sit off thousands of miles away from any air defense system. It is a long-range ALCM carrier. That is it’s war role. Just the same as B-52Hs wouldn’t be expected to go anywhere near a Russian air-defense system but to stand-off and use ALCMs.
It is the ALCMs that the air-defense systems have to deal with, not the bomber platforms.