I’m also wondering about Nicaragua, vis a vis the West Coast. I need to go and do the math, but with a tanker top off near the Aleutians, I believe it would be in range from Kamchatka.
I hadn’t considered Nicaragua. Not even sure if there are any airfields in Nicaragua capable of handling those Russian bombers. Did these guys land at Managua during the 80s? I got stuck at Managua in 1987 when San Jose was socked in. I didn’t see anything bigger than an Mi-8, I think. That would be one hell of a long flight from Kamchatka, even with air-to-air refueling. Somehow, I don’t think they’d be too welcome if they put down at Elmendorf or Eilson and asked for a top-off.