Two Russian strategic bombers fly along Alaska, Canada coasts

[CGowen]

MOSCOW, September 20 (Itar-Tass) - Two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers, within the scope of a long-range aviation drill, flew along the coasts of Alaska and Canada and returned to their home airfield via the North Pole on Thursday, Air Force spokesman Col Alexander Drobyshevsky told Itar-Tass.

"A pair of Tu-95MS planes flew along a large range along the coasts of Alaska and Canada and, returned home via the North Pole. The bombers were refueled in mid air by an Il-78 tanker aircraft. The average flight duration made up some 17 hours. The aircraft flew more than 13,000 kilometers," Drobyshevsky said.

"During refueling, each Tu-95MS took on board 30 tonnes of fuel, a record high amount since the Soviet era," the spokesman said.

"Another pair of Tu-95MS flew around Greenland into the air space over eastern Atlantic Ocean. The average duration of flight was some 12 hours," Drobyshevsksy said.

"Tu-95MS flights were made in accordance with air patrol plans. During the mission, the bombers were accompanied by NATO planes," according to the spokesman.

"The crews of Tu-22M3 planes, along with the scheduled flights, flew patrol missions over the Black Sea, with the average flight time of 5 hours. Another two pairs of Tju-22M3 planes practiced bombing at the Nagotai range in the Irkutsk region. Tu-95 MS, Tu-22M3 and Il-78 made more than 15 flights today," he noted.

...

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11889775&PageNum=0

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Good for them.

Perhaps a little bit of military parity will calm us down.

[Rick Myers]

2. I'm having flashbacks...

In the mid-late 70's I spent time at the Galena Fighter Alext Complex, aka "Top Cover for America" and we were THE base that ran intercepts. There were days where we would launch a pair of F-4E Phantoms (fully-armed) against various Soviet airspace incursions.

Sometimes they were just old cargo planes monitoring the ice in the Bering, others were ecm (jamming) aircraft. They did it to us, we did it to them, every day for years.

[Submariner]

3. I worked next to the runway at Elmendorf in 85-86

and couldn't help but get a boner thrill when 2 to 3 F-15 Eagles would go afterburner on takeoff and then peel off to the northwest as soon as they were wheels up. It happened almost daily as they went after the Backfire bombers. I would just stare jaw-dropped as they climbed into the clouds. It was my understanding that Elmendorf had a "hot-house" to keep 2 Eagles warmed up ready for instant take-off. It was cool stuff to watch for an ex-submarine guy.

[CGowen]

4. Video: Russian Bear is back

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiX26JkbtLk

[ManiacJoe]

5. I use take that with a large grain of salt.

I am guessing that the Russian definition of "along the coasts of Alaska and Canada" is similar to their definition of "over Guam" from earlier this month.