Posted on 06/26/2008 11:15:48 AM PDT by JZelle
Russian bombers have stepped up provocative flight exercises off the Alaskan coast, reminiscent of Cold War incursions designed to rattle U.S. air defenses.
U.S. Northern Command, which protects North American airspace, told The Washington Times that TU-95 Bear bombers on 18 occasions the past year have skirted a 12-mile air defense identification zone that protects Alaska. The incursions prompted F-15s and F-22 Raptor fighters to scramble from Elmendorf Air Force Base and intercept the warplanes. The last incident happened in May.
The venerable propeller-driven TU-95 came to symbolize the Cold War, as did its counterpart, the U.S. B-52 Stratofortress.
"They have flown close enough to deem it necessary to ID and monitor them," said Maj. Allen Herritage, a base spokesman. "They come. We ID. We go back to our base. They go back to their base." Elmendorf is headquarters for the Alaskan region of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
Air defense identification zones are military boundaries designed to guard the U.S. and Canada against attack. To enter the zones legally, pilots must file flight plans with air controllers. Russian bombers do not file flight plans, so U.S. and Canadian jets are required to scramble to identify the planes and warn them away from the area.
"They have not been filing a flight plan and that is the problem," Maj. Herritage said.
Moscow's sophisticated show of force has some in the Pentagon paying more attention to the long-term goals of a Russian military, which is being rebuilt with proceeds from the country's huge oil and gas revenues. NORAD is more sensitive than ever to wayward aircraft, given the Sept. 11 attacks by hijackers and the lack of military coordination at the time to track, and perhaps destroy, the planes.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Something to ponder: An F-22 vs a TU-95.
How long before some FR idiot suggests shooting them down?
So if the Tu95s filed flight plans they’d be ok to
fly in our airspace?
I wonder how that would work? Do we need an FAA service center in Siberia?
Sounds like the Russians are deliberately being provocative. On the other hand it sounds like good training for our pilots.
Much ado about nothing...we should be working more closely with the Russians fighting the enemy: Islam
The system is fully operational.
The Ruskies used to fly over the USS JFK with the bears on a regular bassis.
The Ruskies used to fly over the USS JFK with the bears on a regular bassis.
This is their first chance to evaluate the F-22. I’m sure those Bears are recording emissions, transmissions and making submissions.
Yep, ferret missions work both ways.
We should send F86 Sabres out to meet them.
“Moscow’s sophisticated show of force”,.... flying into our airspace is sophisticated?
Flying into our airspace undetected, now that would be sophisticated.
Oh yeah, P.S. blow ‘em out of the sky!
Is now soon enough?
I've had it with these damned Russians.
We've been at war with these thugs since 1944. We saved their lousy country. They tore down the Berlin Wall, but they've not changed one iota.
No reason to shoot them down. But we should get those little pocket lasers and blind their pilots just for kicks.
We did work with them by giving them millions of dollars worth of armaments to keep Hitler from eating their lunch after the non-agression pact with Stalin was broken and look what it got us?
Korea and Vietnam.
You can't work with these people. It's like throwing steaks to tigers hoping they'll turn into vegetarians.
Suppose we sent a flight of Stealth Fighters and Bombers toward Russian Space... how happy would they be then?
How about flying in front of them and releasing a bunch of red, white and blue paint balls for them to fly into?
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