Russian bomber patrols – The Optimistic Conservative

Bears in the air: Why Russian bombers rattled some serious saber

Peace in our time.

An F-22 from the 302d Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, AK intercepts a Russian Tu-95MS Bear H. (USAF image)

New post up at Liberty Unyielding. Enjoy!

Russian bombers fly to Venezuela, Nicaragua during strategic forces exercise

It’s a reset, all right.

For some reason, the “reset/overcharge” policy of the Obama administration hasn’t induced Russia to take a chill pill on the global strategic forces exercises.

Several sources have reported that on Wednesday 30 October, the Russians conducted a no-notice exercise with their strategic forces, which included the launch of several intercontinental missiles from land and sea. Russian forces also fired missiles from the S-300 and S-400 air- and missile-defense systems (similar to the U.S. Patriot system), along with short range ballistic missiles (NATO designation SS-26 and SS-21) from the Kapustin Yar test center in southern Russia.

Missiles on the move Continue reading “Russian bombers fly to Venezuela, Nicaragua during strategic forces exercise”

Russian bombers do Guam

It matters.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that the Russian Tu-95 “Bear” bomber aircraft operated near Guam on 12 February, a few hours before President Obama’s SOTU address.

A few things about this.

1. It’s not the first time the Russians have timed bomber flights to coincide with Obama events. As early as February 2009, Russian bombers buzzed Canada hours before Obama’s first visit there to confer with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Later that year, in July, Russia conducted three close approaches to Alaska with Tu-95 Bear bombers during Obama’s state visit to Moscow. Air Force Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins had this to say at the time: Continue reading “Russian bombers do Guam”

Weird times in the Far East, Part 1

Interesting times.

Destabilizing conditions abound.

Potemkin bomber patrols

Russian news agencies aren’t trumpeting Russian long-range bomber patrols for English-speaking consumption as they once did. But they are still reporting the patrols, at least sometimes. And the terms in which the latest one was reported hark back to the days when Pravda (“truth”) was synonymous with “blatant lie.”

This is how the Voice of Russia recounted a patrol by two Tu-95MS (Bear) bombers “near the Aleutian Islands” in late May (emphasis added): Continue reading “Weird times in the Far East, Part 1”