Russian bombers flew undetected across Arctic - AF commander

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060422/46792049.html ^

[RusIvan]

It is interesting did they really do undetected?

[A. Pole]

U.S. Air Force is now investigating why its military was unable to detect the Russian bombers

Stealth technology?

[armydawg1]

I highly doubt that the Russians with their military rusting away and falling apart could send planes undetected towords the USA.

[bkepley]

--I highly doubt that the Russians with their military rusting away and falling apart could send planes undetected towords the USA.

Maybe since the cold war ended we've got some rusting of our own.

[Jaxter]

Neither one looks very stealthy:

TU-95

TU-160

[Psycho_Bunny]

Old time bluster, I'm betting.

How would the Lieutenant General know they weren't detected? 

And that's assuming the planes actually went into the Arctic zone.

[jimtorr]

I'd guess that the recently defunct Canadian government sabotaged the NORAD radar systems years ago. They didn't want to participate in any anti-missile systems.

[AppyPappy]

It is interesting did they really do undetected?

Probably. We most likely don't have AWAC planes up there all the time. The old radar net was built to pick up high-flyers.

[edpc]

This entire article is based upon what the Russian Air Commander has stated, printed on a Russian based site. Dubious information, at best.

[riverrunner]

We have been tearing the Norad system down for years.

[Rokke]

It isn't much of a stretch to say we probably knew the names of the pilots as they stepped to their aircraft. Before they got their engines running, we'd already assessed what type of threat they represented. And by the time they were airborne we'd already settled in to watch their "exercise" with a mixture of amusement and nostalgia about the threat they used to represent.

Of course, it also isn't a stretch to consider the possibility that this Russian exercise never really happened.

[ClearCase_guy]

Of course, it also isn't a stretch to consider the possibility that this Russian exercise never really happened.

I'm reminded of the old gunslinger joke. "I'm the fastest draw in the West. Want to see me draw? Want to see it again?"

[beckaz]

Say it's true. Why would they tell us?

Only reason I can think of, ad gimmick to sell their wares?

[JimRed]

Bingo! Stealth technology is not that difficult, and may have been retrofitted on older aircraft (a skin of radar absorbent material, diffusion screens over turbine blades, etc.). You'd still get them on radar eventually, they'd just get a whole lot closer, maybe within cruise missile range.

[TADSLOS]

Detected, yes. Gave a crap- no.

[JimRed]

Assuming, that is, that the information is accurate.

[Drango]

Message below:

Hide it by turning it white!

This could be the technology the Russians were using!

[dakine]

DEW line closed...? Thought they were automated...

[driftdiver]

"Of course, it also isn't a stretch to consider the possibility that this Russian exercise never really happened."

Here's how it goes. Moscow sends orders for an exercise to the military base. The commander sees that his pilots, ground crew and security forces are selling off all the parts and getting drunk. Of course he gets a cut. The commander tells Moscow he can't fly the mission, Moscow shoots him.

New commander sends report back to Moscow that mission was a total success and the Americans never knew we were there.