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| Great White North |
| Canadians intercept Russkie Bears |
| 2007-09-11 |
| Canadian fighter jets have scrambled as recently as this week to intercept Russian bombers flying over the Arctic, says the new commander of this country’s air force. CF-18 Hornets met the Tupolev-95 Bear bombers outside Canadian airspace, Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt told The Chronicle Herald’s editorial board Friday. "It’s not exactly a new challenge; it’s an old challenge that has returned," Lt.-Gen. Watt said Friday. The recent encounter took place near Inuvik, N.W.T., inside what the military dubs its air defence identification zone. "It’s where we pay attention to people coming in," Lt.-Gen. Watt said. "They were never in our airspace. They were never in our sovereign territory." But the Russian aircraft were within visual range of the Canuck fighter pilots during their meeting, something that has become a more frequent occurrence lately. "We take pictures," said Lt.-Gen. Watt, who began his military career as a Sea King pilot at 12 Wing Shearwater. In what seems like an echo of the Cold War, the Russians have also been testing British and U.S. air defences more frequently than they have since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian bombers never stopped flying up to the Canadian Arctic, but the patrols had greatly diminished in the past 15 years. "We have responded in the traditional way to Russian incursions of our airspace by meeting them as they enter our airspace with our fighters to escort them through to show them that we’re paying attention," Lt.-Gen. Watt said. Despite the apparent flexing of Russian military muscle, don’t expect a return to the icy animosity that once existed between the Kremlin and countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "It’s a different world. We’re not going back to the Cold War," Lt.-Gen. Watt said. "But in the end, it does, I think, prove the point that we can’t take anything for granted." On Thursday, British jets intercepted eight Russian nuclear-capable bombers heading for Britain — Russia’s largest show of strength since President Vladimir Putin ordered strategic air patrols to resume last month. Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky, a spokesman for Russia’s air force, reportedly said that 14 long-range bombers began missions over the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans on Wednesday night. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #2 British jets intercepted eight Russian nuclear-capable bombers heading for Britain Eight, eh? An interesting step up from the usual pair flying show the flag, everyone wave and take pictures missions. Moving to more of a "train like you fight, fight like you train" scenario? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-09-11 19:01 |
| #1 Over at In From the Cold spook86 points out that this was part of a multi-front probe by the Russians: The Canadian intercept occurred as Russia dispatched 14 long-range bombers on missions over the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. In other words, last week's reported flight of eight Bear H's over the North Atlantic was part of a much bigger effort--apparently, one of the largest (if not the largest) operation by Russian bombers since the Cold War. General Watt didn't provide specifics on the Canadian intercept, but it apparently happened about the same time that Norwegian F-16s, and later, British F3 Tornadoes were shadowing TU-95s over the North Atlantic. According to General Watt, the Canadian encounter took place just outside his country's airspace, near Inuvik in the Northwest Territories.... So far, there's been no reporting on the "Pacific leg" of the operation. For decades, Russian bombers have periodically tested U.S. air defenses in such locations as Alaska and Guam prompting scrambles by USAF F-15s and U.S. Navy aircraft. Russian Bear and TU-22M Backfire bombers have also flown profiles against Japan, prompting intercepts by Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF) F-15s and other aircraft. ... Given the scope of last week's mission, we'll stick by our earlier prediction: a Bear "run" against the U.S. east coast now seems inevitable, and the number of aircraft that participate in that mission may be higher that what we saw in the Cold War. Indeed, the only limiting factor for that profile would be the availability of aviation fuel at their most likely destination--Cuba. But, if the TU-95s decide to fly on to Venezuela (or Hugo Chavez has filled the POL tanks at Fidel's airfields), then we might see a "large" Bear formation--four or more aircraft--off our east coast, in a matter of weeks. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-11 16:45 |