Cold War Tensions Continue

With Iran and Israel on the brink of war and the resurgence of an aggressive Russia, the world doesn’t look so stable anymore.

Considering that Russia supplies Iran with its nuclear materials, and that Russia often defends Iran in matters discussed at the UN, it’s not so hard to imagine Russia defending Iran militarily in a war against the United States and Israel. Russia was poised to enter the 1973 Yom Kippur war in support or Syria and Egypt, and was only kept out of it due to the threat of fully armed American B52s circling Greenland as a deterrent.

Looking on Wikipedia at some of the bombers that might be used, I came upon the Tupolev Tu-95, NATO codename Bear. It was introduced in 1952 — hardly a new plane — yet it’s projected to serve Russia in the long-range bomber role until 2040. The American B52 Stratofortress, which is just as outdated, will be retired from service at the same time.

Here is a surprising list of NATO encounters with the Tu-95, listing only events in this decade:

* April 2002 — two Tu-95s flew within 37 miles of Alaska, were intercepted by two F-15s.
* January 2004 — a Tu-95a flew over the USS Kitty Hawk in the Sea of Japan.
* 29 September 2006 — NORAD scrambled Canadian CF-18s from CFB Cold Lake in Central Alberta and American F-15s out of an airbase in Alaska to intercept a number of the Russian Tu-95 Bear heavy bombers participating in an annual Russian air force exercise near the coast of Alaska and Canada.
* May 2007 — the Royal Air Force scrambled two Tornado fighters from RAF Leuchars in Scotland to intercept a Tu-95 observing the Royal Navy exercise Neptune Warrior.
* 17 July 2007 — two Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16s (from Bodø, Norway) and subsequently two RAF Tornados (from RAF Leeming, England) intercepted two Tu-95s as they made their way down the Norwegian coast towards Scotland.
* August 2007 — two Tu-95s flew towards the U.S. base on Guam, were intercepted by U.S. fighter planes.
* 17 August 2007 — two RAF Typhoons were launched to intercept a Tu-95 that had veered towards British airspace over the North Sea. The Tu-95 later turned away.
* 5 September 2007 — six Russian bombers were intercepted by six F-15s from Elmendorf Air Force Base, 50 miles from the northwest coast of Alaska.
* 6 September 2007 — Two Norwegian F-16s tracked eight Tu-95s over the Barents Sea as they neared Norwegian airspace. The bombers flew past Norway and continued towards British airspace where four RAF Tornados were scrambled from RAF Leeming before the Russian planes turned away. It was the same day that Canadian Forces’ CF-18s were scrambled to escort Russian Tu-95s outside Canadian airspace near Inuvik, Northwest Territories.
* November 2007 — F-22A Raptors performed their first intercept of two Russian Tu-95s in Alaska.
* 9 February 2008 — 24 aircraft including F-15 Eagles and an E-767 AWAC from the Japanese air force scrambled and gave “a notice, then a warning and another a notice and a warning,” as a Russian Tu-95 violated the country’s airspace during a three-minute flyover of Sofugan in the Izu Islands. Japan formally issued a strong protest, demanded prevention of future incidents and presented a protest note to the Russian Embassy in Tokyo. Russian officials conversely stated that four Tupolev Tu-95 bombers completed a 10-hour mission over the Pacific on Saturday, but “our strategic aviation planes did not violate Japanese airspace.”
* 9 February 2008 — in the Western Pacific, a Russian Tu-95 flew over the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz twice, at a low altitude of about 2,000 feet, while another bomber circled about 58 miles out. Four American F/A-18 fighters were scrambled to track the bombers.
* 5 March 2008 — Off the eastern coast of South Korea, a Russian Tu-95 flew over USS Nimitz and was intercepted by two F/A-18 Hornets at an altitude of 2,000 feet at a distance of about 3-5 miles. Four South Korean F-16s were also scrambled to intercept the bomber.
* 26 March 2008 — Off the coast of Alaska, Two U.S. Air Force F-15s escorted two Russian Bear long-range bombers out of an air exclusion zone.
* 24 April 2008 — Two Tu-95 bombers from Engels-2, along with two Il-78 refueling aircraft, were escorted by NATO Tornados and F-16s over the Atlantic.
* 13 May 2008 — Two Tu-95 bombers from Ukrainka air base conducted a 20 hour patrol over the Arctic Ocean, CF-18s intercepted them as the bombers headed towards the Alaskan airspace.

Now, these are only the reported incidents with this particular Russian aircraft. Imagine all the other potential incidents involving fighters or naval assets! Also, notice how Russian incursions into others’ sovereign airspace (or close calls) have increased markedly since 2007. 2002, 2004, and 2006 saw only one incident each, while 2007 showed 7 incidents, and 2008 has already produced 6, and the year isn’t yet halfway over!

It seems somebody is trying to tout their air power.

2 Comments to Cold War Tensions Continue

1. 

   sounds expensive and tiring
parksmarts on June 11th, 2008

2. [...] Cold War Tensions Continue | Cameron Newland Now, these are only the reported incidents with this particular Russian aircraft. Imagine all the other potential incidents involving fighters or naval assets! Also, notice how Russian incursions into others’ sovereign airspace (or close calls) have increased markedly since 2007. 2002, 2004, and 2006 saw only one incident each, while 2007 showed 7 incidents, and 2008 has already produced 6, and the year isn’t yet halfway over! [...]
Palin U.S. Airspace and Russia - Nutroots Crash and Burn | 186 k per second on October 1st, 2008

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