"Danny....Inbound Tu-95s! We gotta launch"
"Okay, Rafe!"
Posted on 02/12/2008 6:59:18 PM PST by Ivan the Terrible
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The chief of the US Navy said Tuesday an overflight of a US aircraft carrier by a Russian bomber off Japan was "benign" and unprovocative, adding that US crew were not called to combat stations.
Admiral Gary Roughead said he had not asked Moscow for an explanation, but offered one of his own: the Russian military is trying to re-emerge as a global force.
"But I did not consider it to be provocative," he said of Saturday's overflight of the USS Nimitz in the western Pacific.
"And, again, the way that our forces responded, our commanders responded, the performance of our systems was exactly what we expected," he added.
One of the bombers overflew the Nimitz at an altitude of 2,000 feet (600 meters), he told reporters at the Pentagon.
Roughead acknowledged that even during the Cold War US forces rarely overflew Russian warships.
But he said the flight of two TU-95 Bear bombers was detected early and alert aircraft were launched in a timely manner.
"The fact that we had such early detection, that we were able to launch our alerts in a very timely way, and when our airplanes joined up on the bombers, it was a very benign flight that came through, and we just latched onto them and followed them on in," he said.
"You know, it's not prudent to fly over an aircraft carrier," he said at another point. "But our situational awareness is such that, as I said, we had good detection, followed them in, and, in my mind, it's not something to go to general quarters over."
Roughead said the incident did not cause the Nimitz to go to general quarters -- a call for a ship's crew to combat stations.
US defense officials said four F-18 fighters intercepted the Russian bombers and escorted them until they had left the area.
Two other TU-95 bombers were intercepted earlier the same day by Japanese F-15 fighters.
Japan issued what it said was a strong protest with Moscow, which denied that its aircraft had ventured into Japanese airspace.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates met the day after the Nimitz incident with Russian Deputy Premier Sergei Ivanov in Munich, Germany, but did not raise it in their talks, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
"Any expressions of concern will probably be carried out through military-to-military quote 'diplomatic channels,'" State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
But the State Department did not "at this point intend to do anything on behalf of the Department of Defense," McCormack said.
The Russians have decided to resume "some of their long-range aviation flights" using material left over from the Cold War and were keeping "them in good, working order," he said
"But beyond that, I don't think we view it as a particular threat. It is something that we watch, it is something that we watch closely," he said.
Some members of Congress raised concerns about the incident, however, at a hearing with senior Pentagon officials.
Democratic Senator Bill Nelson said it "sounds pretty provocative to me ... that they would be flying over one of our aircraft carrier battle groups and specifically if it were the aircraft carrier itself."
Republican Senator Pete Domenici said Russia was using a flood of oil revenues to re-equip its military forces and re-establish military laboratories.
"And they're pretty modern in terms of what they're building, compared to what we thought over the last decade. And nobody ought to be fooled. They're not built just to be parked up there in the ice lands," he said.
General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the overflight was unusual, "but not significant in that the practice was done safely, professionally and they were escorted out of the area."
"Now what we're concerned about is, what are the indications of this return to a Cold War mindset -- what are the implications of that activity and how do we best address that?
"We're just trying to now go back and look what message was intended by this overflight," he said.
Too many Freepers are overly exercised about this incident.
Speaking from a background of serving on seven different carriers over an almost thirty year period,from 1958 to 1986, I can tell you all that this was routine for that time period.
The Soviet aircraft,usually Bears but sometimes Badgers,were always picked up from 300 to 500 miles out and escorted all the way.The fighter aircraft were always tucked in with them and if any indication were ever given of hostile action,such as opening a weapons bay door,they would have splashed the bomber.
We usually saw overflights in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It wouldn't surprise me if these current flights were by some of the same aircraft since the Russians haven't built any new Bears in quite some time.
As I recall the Soviets even lost a Badger or Bison,I forget which, back in the early sixties when he got too low and dipped a wing into the sea while circling a carrier,(Essex maybe?).
So everbody should quit getting their bowels in an uproar about this incident.
Odd. I thought we’re supposed to be at war.
We should shoot them down in a “benign” manner. I wonder that the bomber crews would think if they saw a single stream of .50 caliber tracers arcing up at them? A giant bomber at an altitude of 2000 feet would make a juicy target.
"Danny....Inbound Tu-95s! We gotta launch"
"Okay, Rafe!"
Too funny, man!
Would have been a great time to teach a couple of really young sailors to fly drones.
Opps sorry! You should have phoned ahead!
You are exactly right. All the keyboard commandos and armchair admirals screaming that heads should roll because we didn't shoot them out of the sky are embarrassingly ill-informed of US Navy rules of engagement as well as policies that respect international airspace and waters. Shooting at this Russian bomber flying in international airspace would have been an act of war. Sinking the Chinese sub that surfaced in the middle of our battlegroup in international waters would have been an act of war.
It is clear that many here have never set foot aboard a navy vessel to see for themselves (as you and I have) that these kind of flybys are routine and no big deal.
Sigh... Some people here really need to get a grip.
They are allowed to overflight. It is international airspace and this was a fairly regular thing over the years. Iranian P-3 Orions do visuals on navy vessels in the Gulf. Soviets did it for years. They get monitored and intercepted. No one gets shot down.
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During one of my Indian ocean cruises, Soviet overflights were about the only thing to break up the monotony, we actually looked forward to them. We also never felt any danger during them.
These were Bear Hotels. These are new-build Tu-95s. The last one came off the production line in the early 1990s. The crash incident was a Tu-16 Badger.
Any IDIOT knows full damn well that the act was provocative.
Well it is a good job you aren’t in charge! Leave it to the commanders who are in charge. This is international waters and airspace. You are aware that US and Russian forces conduct exercises together in both anti-terror and search and rescue?
The aircraft are monitored, intercepted and escorted. They have the legitimate right to inspect just the same as NATO aircraft do to Russian warships. A recent Russian carrier battle group went into the Med and were monitored and inspected by NATO aircraft. No difference and something that has being going on for years.
Even Iranian P-3 Orions do visual intercept of Coaliton naval groups in the Persian Gulf. Do you hear of any of them being shot down by those naval groups?
Heaven help us if it was left to the armchair generals on freepers!
I can see it from the perspective of those sitting in their comfy armchairs, but please leave it to the commanders in charge. Here are images of the Russian carrier Kuznetsov returning from its exercise in the last few weeks. Do you think that the Russians were going to shoot down the Norwegian Air Force P-3 Orion or blow away the Norwegian navy vessel? During its exercise how many NATO aircraft monitored that Russian Battle Group and did visual flypasts?
They don't. You are just a clueless self emasculated target, and they will bloody well shoot you as soon as they feel like it. And your government will flat let them, and probably apologize to them when they do.
Bullshit... I would bet that boat went to GQ when that blip closed to 10 miles out. Back in the day when we cruised the Sea of Japan, we'd go to GQ when a blip appeared coming our direction. It was rumored at the time that Migs used to try to knock boilers off line with low passes. Would have been interesting to see. Does not take much to blow out fires... Let that ship sit DIW for a half hour until the plant gets back up to steam...
Bullshit... I would bet that boat went to GQ when that blip closed to 10 miles out. Back in the day when we cruised the Sea of Japan, we'd go to GQ when a blip appeared coming our direction. It was rumored at the time that Migs used to try to knock boilers off line with low passes. Would have been interesting to see. Does not take much to blow out fires... Let that ship sit DIW for a half hour until the plant gets back up to steam...
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