February 16, 201214 yr From Air Force Magazine, Feb 2012 issue [excerpt] Out of Hibernation By Marc V. Schanz Senior Editor After two decades of military decline and costly regional wars, Russia is again investing in—and exercising—its strategic forces. In the wee hours of Aug. 17, 2007, 14 of Russia’s strategic bombers and a number of support aircraft lumbered into the sky from bases across that country. The synchronized launches were the start of long-range patrols well beyond Russia’s borders. The otherwise uneventful missions were noteworthy because they marked the resumption of regular strategic training flights, which Russia had mounted only sporadically in the post-Cold War era.
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