Russian jets halted US-Japan military drills

BBC News ^ | 12/8/10 | Staff

[Nachum]

The US and Japan were forced to halt military exercises this week because of Russian jets flying nearby, Japanese officials have revealed. Russia admitted its jets were flying above the Sea of Japan, but said the pilots had not breached any rules. Moscow and Tokyo have argued recently over an island chain they both claim. The US-Japan war games are the biggest ever held between the two countries, involving more than 44,000 personnel and 60 warships. The drills - codenamed Keen Sword - are being held to mark the 50th anniversary of the US-Japan alliance.

[blam]

The military division of the Female And Homosexual Alliance decided that it was best not to provoke the Russians.

[laweeks]

And I’m sure our light-weight anti-American who lives in our White House will apologize after he bows down.

[Tallguy]

If these were ELINT birds (and they likely were) I'm sure all the radar sets snapped off. Wonder how close they were allowed to get to the George Washington?

[OldDeckHand]

Russia wants to be relevant again, and in the worst way. This is what happens when you have a country run by two near-midget men.

[rdcbn]

The Russian paper tiger shuts us down. This did not happen when we had a President who was respected around the world.
F
Our air force has more F22, F15 and F16 fighters than the rest of the world air force's have modern jets totaled

. Our Navy adds to that capability. The rest of the world is pushing to see how hard we push back and we don't even try. Historically, wars have started when one side perceives weakness and moves to exploit that weakness. Obama proudly advertises his weakness for all the world to see. Weak bullies are emboldened and a playing brinkmanship games that could result in serious escalations of violence

[NoLibZone]

When the Bears show up that’s a great time to teach the cooks how to fly cheap UAV’s.

[Army Air Corps]

Another report identified the Russian aircraft as Il-38 “May” ASW aircraft.

[Nowhere Man]

Russia wants to be relevant again, and in the worst way. This is what happens when you have a country run by two near-midget men.

I remember Mike Pintek, KDKA-AM talkshow host, once referred to Russia as "having the economic power of Butler County (PA) with nukes."B-) Russia wants to be and still thinks they are a "major playa" and since they have nukes, they still are, but with a declining population base, that will knock them down at some point in the future. I think in the 1990's, we missed a lot of opportunities to bring Russia closer to our side and we are paying for it.

[JRandomFreeper]

If you recall, from the '70s and '80s, we and the USSR both played cat and mouse with each other's exersizes, and either side would shut down offensive operations to preserve SIGSEC, OPSEC, etc...

Same song, second verse, similar refrain.

I call it the Meh! war. It's not a hot war, and it's not the cold war, but we're still doing some of the same stuff. But neither side seems to be playing hard-ball.

/johnny

[Tallguy]

I saw that report (about the Il-38 ASW aircraft). But you have to keep in mind what we (the USN) did with our P-3 Orion aircraft. A number of them were converted to EP-3 Aries SIGNT birds, like the one that crashlanded on Hainan Island.

An ASW aircraft platform is the logical choice because of range & loiter time when it comes to monitoring fleets & shipping.

[Army Air Corps]

Oh, I know that. I was just curious if the BBC didn’t know the difference between a jet and a turboprop or if the BBC was reporting on a different incident.

[Tallguy]

Sorry. I misinterpreted your comment. The Newsies may have assumed that the aircraft were Bears which are also used for naval reconnaissance. If that other report hadn’t specifically mentioned the Ilyushin, I’d have assumed ‘Bear’.

[sushiman]

Notice JAPANESE officials announced it , and it was reported by the BRITISH , which means most Americans don’t even know about it .

[donna]

They’ll be flying into Arizona from Mexico any day now.

[A.A. Cunningham]

The BBC is repeating what it heard from Ria Novosti.

[cunning_fish]

In fact they had an economic power of Butler County back to a 1998 under liberal government of Boris Yeltsin.
By 2008 they was back close to a World’s top 5 right over Italy and almost on par with France which is below Germany.
They are believed to surpass Japan by 2025 to compete for a World’s # 3 economy against India (with China as # 1, and US as # 2)

[Nowhere Man]

In fact they had an economic power of Butler County back to a 1998 under liberal government of Boris Yeltsin.
By 2008 they was back close to a World’s top 5 right over Italy and almost on par with France which is below Germany.
They are believed to surpass Japan by 2025 to compete for a World’s # 3 economy against India (with China as # 1, and US as # 2)

Well, you have a point there, they are making more correct economic decisions than we are. IIRC, as the USSR, they were like the #2 or #3 economy during the Cold War.

[cunning_fish]

Yep, in 1989 US were # 1 and Soviets # 2. Japan was # 3 but too far below both leaders. India and China were not even close to top 10.