Russia sends two long-range bombers to Venezuela

wired dispatch ^ | 9/10/08 | wired dispatch

[Flavius]

Russia has flown two long-range bombers to Venezuela, flexing its military muscle in Washington's traditional backyard as the former Cold War enemies spar over the conflict in Georgia.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday the Tu-160 strategic bombers were in the South American oil-exporting nation to strengthen military ties and counter U.S. regional influences.

[snoringbear]

“Not thinking are you? The support comes from IL-76/78s deployed as part of the support fleet. Doesn’t take much to deploy a small support team and spares on those transports/tankers.”

Well Tommyjo, I must say that was not a very nice thing to say - that I am not thinking. Kinda hurts my feelings actually. But, back to the task at hand; if we let history be our guide on this we will see that the Soviets and now Russians have never been very good at projecting power. Their venture in Afghanistan is a good example. Logistics and supply chain support for our combat units is a uniquely American attribute that no other country has been able to even come close to - going all the way back to WWII.

[Tommyjo]

Well think then how much support the deployment of two bombers requires? They are not deploying the entire strategic bomber force. During the 1990s the Russians deployed two Tu-95MS Bear Hs to the US on a goodwill visit. The support team was flown in on the IL-78 tanker. It is not exactly rocket science to support such a small deployment.

Images of the two Tu-160s in Venezuela.

If U.S. logistics were that perfect then they wouldn't have had to contract out to Russian and Ukranian firms for the use of heavy lift Antonov 124s and the sole Antonov 225 on defense contracts. The U.S. military currently requires more heavy lift capability than it currently has.

Copy and past link

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jan/05/air_force_hires_russian_jets26735/

[snoringbear]

“The U.S. military currently requires more heavy lift capability than it currently has.”

Well, lift capability is one of those things that there can never be enough of. But, in comparing to Russia, the comparison is not even close. Additionally, we (the U.S. - assuming you are part of this “we”) have a huge commercial fleet that can be tapped at any time needed. Yes, we utillized some of our commercial fleet during both wars but not to any great extent.