Russian bombers test Swedish and U.S. defenses... cold war reheating?

We used to play these games constantly with the Soviets... but that was decades ago, right?

On May 6, Russia received its first shipment of Sukhoi Su-34 twin-seat fighter-bombers (known by NATO as "Fullback"). The Su-34 is the newest generation of fighter-bombers intended to replace the outdated Soviet-era Sukhoi Su-24s. While the modernization of the Russian Air Force may — and rightfully so — raise a few eyebrows of concern, this alone is not sufficient cause for alarm. Russia’s recent air force maneuvers are, however. On the night of March 29, 2013, two Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers (known by NATO as "Backfires"), escorted by four Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighters (known by NATO as "Flankers") passed extremely close to Swedish airspace and simulated an aerial "attack" on Stockholm and southern Sweden. The Tu-22M3 is a new supersonic long-range bomber capable of delivering nuclear weapons to overseas targets.

Well, the Swedes were snoozing, but the Danes got planes in the air...

The six Russian aircraft flew dangerously close to Swedish airspace, roughly 20 miles from Sweden’s territorial borders, according to Business Insider. While Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic has become routine since Russian President Vladimir Putin restored the old Soviet-era long-range strategic flights in 2011, what makes this particular flight so concerning was Sweden’s lack of readiness. The Swedish Air Force was caught off guard and failed to respond. The flights occurred on Good Friday at around 2 a.m. local time. Business Insider reported that “at least two JAS-39 Gripen should always be in a QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) and ready for take off in case of alarm, but quite surprisingly there were no interceptors ready on Good Friday night.” Instead of Swedish fighters, two Danish F-16 fighter jets under NATO command intercepted and escorted the Russian planes safely away from Sweden’s borders. While Sweden may be grateful to Denmark’s Royal Danish Air Force, this raises serious concerns over Sweden's ability to repel and/or deter aggression against its national borders. This incident also raises concerns over the increased belligerence on the part of Russia.

Hmmm... then they tried to get a look at Sarah Palin's backyard (no snide remarks)...

A month later, on the night of April 28, two Russian Tupolev Tu-95 (known by NATO as "Bear-H"; shown, above) long-range heavy nuclear bombers “were detected flying into the military’s Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near the Aleutians, where a strategic missile defense radar is located,” according to the Washington Free Beacon. Again, the Russian bombers did not penetrate Alaskan or U.S. airspace, but they did fly dangerously close to it, prompting two U.S. F-22 fighter jets to scramble from Elmendorf Air Force Base. Bill Gertz of the Washington Free Beacon writes, “The dispatch of F-22s is an indication the bomber flights posed a potential threat to U.S. territory. It was the fifth incident of Russian strategic bombers flying against the United States since June, when Bear bombers were intercepted near Alaska during a large-scale Russian strategic nuclear exercise that Russian military officials said involved practice strikes against U.S. missile defense sites in Alaska.”

They also had a run at Guam this year... could the bear have been in hibernation?

The Russians do have timing on their side, the world is so bat crap crazy at the moment, who would notice a few lonely strategic bombers....

Link

I don't see it as any sort of escalation, the Russians do this on a regular basis to our airspace here in the UK to test response time, and they are always politely escorted away from UK airspace by a couple of Typhoon fighters.

It is in a way beneficial to both parties, the Russians get to see our response times and we get to test our scramble protocols.

Time for the Russians to show their faces in their “own territories (high jacked by the NATO) after the soviet fall”.

I don’t see why they shouldn’t. Good job..

Curious... so they caught the backfire and the bear. And no blackjack? Weird.

Well its not like it isnt hidden. Ive seen each one of these "incidents" on Foxnews.com so its not like its unaware to the public. Just unaware to folks who rather not pay attention to the news lol. (and i dont blame them. News is just full of false alarms)

Originally posted by FraternitasSaturni
Curious... so they caught the backfire and the bear. And no blackjack? Weird.

edit on 14-5-2013 by FraternitasSaturni because: (no reason given)

I really do hope that their fabulous (blackjack) shows up. What a site… what a power…!

Notice your comrades didn't stick around too long after the F-22 showed up...

Doesn't surprise me in the least, the Swedish Armed Forces is a joke, they've been dismantling it since the cold war when we could muster about a 850 thousand men.
These days the government is hemorrhaging hundreds of billions(SEK) on immigrants every year so the armed forces have suffered in a major way, we now have the ability to mobilize about 40 thousand men.

According to the Supreme Commander of our armed forces we could only withstand an attack for a week before being overrun, that's downright pathetic, granted times have changed and so have the threats so the need to have the ability to withstand a ground invasion is arguable, still having such a small force is far from reassuring.

Our only hope in case of a war is NATO, even though we're not a member state.