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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Dupe entry: Bears Preparing for an East Coast Run? |
| 2007-08-11 |
| They were an infrequent, though powerful symbol of the Cold War; occasional flights by Russian TU-95 "Bear" bombers along the U.S. eastern seaboard. Launching out of bases in central Russia, the huge, long-range bombers would fly north toward the Kola Peninsula, then swing southwest along the Norwegian coast and head for the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) gap. After passing Iceland, the Russian bomber (usually a single-ship) continue on its west/southwest heading, flying parallel to the east coast before landing in Cuba. Thanks to timely intelligence cueing, the flights rarely came as a surprise. The Bears were closely tracked along their journey, and shadowed by Norwegian, British, American and Canadian Air Force jets, depending on their flight route. If we had a carrier battle group in the area--a frequent target for TU-95 show-of-force missions--Navy fighters participated as well. While the Russian flights served as a notice of their long-range strike capabilities, the "escorting" F-15s, F-16s, F-14s, CF-18s and F-18s reminded Bear crews that they were hardly invulnerable. With the end of the Cold War, the bomber leg of Moscow's strategic triad essentially collapsed. Russian bombers--and their crews--spent most of their time on the ground, due to fuel shortages and funding woes. Flights along our eastern seaboard stopped, and missions against Iceland, Norway and various Pacific rim targets decreased dramatically. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #11 Interesting stuff, Mike. Thanks. One of the things I like about Rantburg is you get these little insider peeks into some fascinating worlds. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-08-11 18:54 |
| #10 Steve- Absolutely correct, tho IIRC the Bears that made the Havana run didn't carry ALCMs - intercepts made out to sea were a different story. Had a few pics of Bears lugging missiles along the East Coast made it out, the Cold War may have had a very different tone. (Not saying they never did, just that most intercepts were of apparently unarmed aircraft.) One constant was that the tail turret gunners in the Bears usually would depress their weapons as far as they could go, to indicate to the intercept pilots that they could get close without worry. Some hard-case Bear drivers didn't let their gunners do that, but the gunners (being clever enlisted guys) usually found a way to let the interceptors know all was well. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-08-11 16:24 |
| #9 considered a high stakes game where both sides understood the rules and had a fair amount of respect for one another Back in the Good Old Days no one was armed with long range nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. Mix that potential in with the current Russian need to look tough, and you have the recipe for some twitchy times. Let's hope the Russians are not as pig-headed as the Chinese. (yeah, I know, hope is not a strategy.) |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-08-11 16:03 |
| #8 ...The thing to remember is this: in the Old Days, this was considered a high stakes game where both sides understood the rules and had a fair amount of respect for one another. Misunderstandings were rare (tho I was present on the ground for one of them, and they could be nerveracking)and everybody knew their part. Today, however, it's different. The USAF was badly embarrassed by its performance on 9/11 - the C3 guys were magnificent, but the interceptors (restricted by circumstances beyond their control) never got a chance to do anything except fly over ground zeroes. If Mister Bear comes calling and gets close to the Air Defense Interception Zones, he'll get a far less friendly reception than he did 25 years ago. Nobody will be shot at, of course, but this time there won't be any showing of Playboy centerfolds or souvenir picture taking. The Bear drivers will know that they are pushing it. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-08-11 15:24 |
| #7 East Coast run, my ass! And where's my f*ckin' Super Bowl ring, Putin? |
| Posted by: Robert Kraft 2007-08-11 14:46 |
| #6 "Fill `er up. High test." |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2007-08-11 14:00 |
| #5 |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-08-11 13:41 |
| #4 My first thought was that this was a story about a growing population of black bears that would start invading people's yards on the east coast. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-08-11 13:30 |
| #3 Whew! I was thinking, "Run at the east coast? All they gotta do is with their division!" |
| Posted by: badanov 2007-08-11 12:58 |
| #2 The last 60 year long cold war bankrupted them and destroyed the Soviet Union leaving a broken land in its place. Are the fools desiring a repeat? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-08-11 12:23 |
| #1 Surely a RS71 could visit mother russia to return the smiles? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-08-11 12:20 |