Free Republic

A pair of Russian strategic nuclear bombers were intercepted near the Pacific coast Wednesday, the Washington Free Beacon reported — the second such incident in two weeks. According to the Free Beacon, the two long range bombers entered the U.S. air defense zone and came close to the U.S. coast, but did not enter sovereign airspace. The bombers were “were visually identified by NORAD fighters,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby said. The first incident in late June involved two Tu-95 Bear H bombers near Alaska conducting war games, which included simulated attacks on “enemy” air defenses and strategic facilities, a...

A Russian Tu-142M3 reconnaissance aircraft recently crashed twenty kilometers off the Pacific coast, during a training mission. The Tu-142 is an unarmed maritime patrol aircraft that, in the last few years, have resumed long range patrols. Such activity had been halted in the early 1990s. The Tu-142, which was introduced in the 1970s, is the patrol version of the Tu-95 heavy bomber. This aircraft entered service 51 years ago, and is expected to remain in service, along with the Tu-142 variant, for another three decades. But these elderly aircraft are increasingly expensive to maintain, and prone to developing unexpected problems....