Russia bombers resume Cold War sorties

Flights to Guam intended to showcase Moscow’s resurgent military prowess

The Associated Press

Updated: 10:52 a.m. ET Aug 9, 2007

MOSCOW - Russian bombers have flown to the island of Guam — home to a major U.S. military base — for the first time since the Cold War in an exercise intended to show the Kremlin’s resurgent military power, an air force general said Thursday.

 

Two Tu-95 bombers reached Guam, a U.S. territory, this week, and their crews smiled at the pilots of the U.S. fighter jets that scrambled to intercept them, said Maj. Gen. Pavel Androsov.

 

“Whenever we saw U.S. planes during our flights over the ocean, we greeted them,” Androsov said. “On Wednesday, we renewed the tradition when our young pilots flew by Guam in two planes. We exchanged smiles with our counterparts who flew up from a U.S. carrier and returned home.”

 

The flight to the Pacific island was part of a three-day exercise that saw Russian strategic bombers making 40 sorties and launching eight cruise missiles, said Androsov, who commands Russia’s long-range bomber force.

 

The incident coincided with a weeklong exercise by the U.S. military off Guam involving more than 22,000 troops, dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft. U.S. officials have said that the war games, which began Tuesday, were not connected in any way to world events or targeted at any country.

 

During the Cold War, Soviet bombers routinely flew far over the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans — the areas from where they would launch nuclear-tipped cruise missiles at the United States in case of war. The maneuvers came to a halt after the post-Soviet economic meltdown, but booming oil prices have allowed Russia to pour money into military budgets.

 

Chilly relations

The Kremlin also has taken an increasingly assertive posture on the international stage amid increasingly chilly relations with the United States and NATO.

 

In recent years, the military has sent strategic bombers to areas off Norway and Iceland, as well as the regions across the Bering Strait from Alaska. Last month, two Russian Tu-95 bombers briefly entered British airspace but turned back after British fighter jets intercepted them. Norwegian F-16s were also scrambled when two Tu-95s headed south along the Norwegian coast in international airspace.

 

Russia’s top naval officer, meanwhile, said earlier this month that the navy could revive a permanent presence in the Mediterranean, as in Soviet times.

 

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Russian Bomber Revives Long-Haul Mission

By DMITRY SOLOVYOV, REUTERS, MOSCOW

DefenseNews

 

MOSCOW — Russia’s strategic bombers have resumed their Cold War practice of flying long-haul missions to areas patrolled by NATO and the U.S., top generals said Aug. 9.

 

A Russian bomber flew over a U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam on Aug. 8 and “exchanged smiles” with U.S. pilots who scrambled to track it, said Maj. Gen. Pavel Androsov, head of long-range aviation in the Russian air force.

 

“It has always been the tradition of our long-range aviation to fly far into the ocean, to meet [u.S.] aircraft carriers and greet [u.S. pilots] visually,” Androsov told a news conference. “Yesterday we revived this tradition, and two of our young crews paid a visit to the area of the [u.S. Pacific Naval Activities] base of Guam.”

 

President Vladimir Putin has sought to make Russia more assertive in the world.

 

Putin has boosted defense spending and sought to raise morale in the armed forces, which were starved of funding in the chaos that followed the fall of the Soviet Union.

 

Androsov said the sortie by the two turboprop Tu-95MS bombers, from a base near Blagoveshchensk in the Far East, lasted 13 hours. The Tu-95, code-named “Bear” by NATO, is Russia’s Cold War icon and may stay in service until 2040.

 

“I think the result was good. We met our colleagues — fighter jet pilots from [u.S.] aircraft carriers. We exchanged smiles and returned home,” Androsov said.

 

Cold War cat-and-mouse

 

The bombers give Russia the capability of launching a devastating nuclear strike even if the nuclear arsenals on its own territory are wiped out.

During the Cold War, they played elaborate airborne games of cat-and-mouse with Western air forces.

 

Lt. Gen. Igor Khvorov, air forces chief of staff, said the West would have to come to terms with Russia asserting its geopolitical presence around the globe.

 

“But I don’t see anything unusual. This is business as usual ... like it is normal for the U.S. to fly from its continent to Guam or, say, the island of [Diego} Garcia,” Khvorov said.

 

Young pilots of strategic bombers passed a series of tests Aug. 8, including missile launches.

 

“We fired eight cruise missiles, and all hit bull’s eye,” Khvorov said.

He said one crew had taken off from Engels in southwestern Russia, hit a target in the north and then flown thousands of kilometers before landing in the Far East.

 

Engels is home to Russia’s supersonic Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers, in service since 1987 and code-named “Blackjack” by NATO while called “White Swan” by Russian pilots.

 

The generals said that, under Putin, long-range aviation no longer needs fuel, enjoys better maintenance and personnel receive higher wages — not the least because the Kremlin leader once made a five-hour sortie as part of a Tu-160 crew.

 

“The president learned about the pilots’ work the hard way,” Khvorov said. “This one flight yielded an awful lot.”

From Navy Times

 

Admiral disputes Russian claim of Guam flyover

By Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press

Posted : Friday Aug 10, 2007 6:36:39 EDT

 

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said Russian bombers never got within 300 miles of Guam this week and did not fly over the U.S. territory as a Russian air force general claimed.

 

Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard disputed that U.S. fighters intercepted the bombers. The admiral said the Russian aircraft never got close enough to the Pacific island or the massive U.S. military exercises being held nearby, to warrant such action.

 

“U.S. planes went to an orbit point in preparation for an intercept that never occurred because the Bears didn’t get close enough,” Willard said Thursday using a slang term for the Russian planes.

 

Earlier, a Russian air force general said a pair of Tu-95 bombers reached Guam as part of an exercise intended to demonstrate the Kremlin’s resurgent military power.

 

The general said the bomber’s crews smiled at the pilots of the U.S. fighter jets scrambled to intercept them.

 

The U.S. military is currently holding large-scale war games in waters and air space near Guam. The “Valiant Shield” drills are among the largest U.S. military exercises held anywhere in the world, involving over 22,000 troops, more than 30 ships and some 275 planes.

 

Willard, a former Navy fighter pilot and aircraft carrier commander, said Russian air forces have not tried to push their way in to watch U.S. carrier training much recently. But he said it was something that happened often in the days of the Soviet Union.

 

“We’re very accustomed to this and it wasn’t a particular surprise to us,” Willard said. “It was standard operating procedure for those of us that have that experience.”

 

In Soviet days, U.S. fighter jets would fly out to “escort” the planes, he said. The U.S. and Russia still have procedures they follow in such circumstances to ensure the safety of their forces, he added.

 

The Russian planes flew to the Pacific as part of its own exercise that saw strategic bombers flying 40 sorties and launching eight cruise missiles, said Maj. Gen. Pavel Androsov, who commands Russia’s long-range bomber force.

 

During the Cold War, Soviet bombers routinely flew far over the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The maneuvers came to a halt after the post-Soviet economic meltdown, but booming oil prices have allowed Russia to pour money into military budgets.

 

Willard said the appearance of the bombers did not affect the Valiant Shield exercises, aside from the brief diversion of the fighter jets that were put on standby.

 

The admiral, who assumed command of the Pacific Fleet in May, said Guam’s military training ranges offered a perfect location for a large-scale training exercises. He said holding the war games showed the importance of Asia-Pacific security to the U.S.

 

“It’s a demonstration of the U.S. military’s commitment to the region and to the high level of readiness of our forces, even in very busy operational times,” Willard said.

 

U.S. military leaders said the drills were teaching sailors, airmen and Marines to understand each other’s signals and terminology so they will work together seamlessly in an emergency.