Russia sends bombers, fighters to Atlantic & Arctic

Russia sends bombers, fighters to Atlantic & Arctic

www.reuters.com

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia sent fighters and long-range bombers to the Arctic and North Atlantic on Friday to take part in manoeuvres demonstrating revival of some of the military power and reach it lost with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Vladimir Putin, set to hand the presidency to a chosen successor after an election that will gauge his own popularity, tapped feelings of national humiliation in rebuilding forces left to decay in the 1990s. The navy had lost the global role it had grown to in the 1970s, aircraft and ships lacked fuel.

The air force said more than 40 aircraft would take part in the manoeuvres, which follow similar exercises by warships and bombers last month off the Atlantic coast of France and Spain.

"Air force pilots will carry out practice in the areas involving reconnaissance, missile-bombing attacks on a navy attack force of a hypothetical enemy, air-to-air combat and refuelling and patrolling," an air force spokesman said.

(visit the link for the full news article)

More war game simulations out in the field...Lots of things to keep our eyes on in these times IMO.

www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Good catch DD! S/F'd

Gee, I wonder who the "hypothetical" enemy is?

You know, one of these days foreign powers are going to get a clue that if you want to pull off an attack, the easiest way is to make it happen under cover of a "war game" or military exercise. 911 ring any bells? ... The London train bombings?

Not bad article but:

But some key economic leaders, including Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, have questioned Russia's assertive foreign policy.

That has sparked speculation that there is a dispute at the top levels of the Kremlin about Russia's sabre rattling as Putin's chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev, moves towards almost certain electoral victory.

Did people ever heard for intentional disinformation to deceive enemy?

Russian military spending in absolute terms is substantially lower than that of China, Britain or France and less than a tenth of the United States.

And then in the end biased statement. Off course Russia spend less because Russian GDP is lower.

More developing news on this front:


Russia to build up presence in global oceans: Navy Commander

SEVEROMORSK, February 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will build up its presence in the strategic areas of the World Ocean, the Russian navy commander said on Sunday.

Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky summed up Sunday the results of the Russian naval task force's two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic. The operation was the first large-scale Russian navy exercise in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean in 15 years.

"What is important is that we have appeared [in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean] at a scheduled time and not just that we appeared there. We'll do all we can to build up our presence where Russia has strategic interests," Vysotsky said, adding that Russia intended to carry out similar missions once every six months.

The flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva guided missile cruiser, joined up with Russian naval warships in the Mediterranean on January 18 to participate in the maneuvers in the Atlantic from January 28 to February 2.

Russia's naval task force comprised the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class destroyers Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, as well as auxiliary vessels.

Over 40 aircraft of Russia's Air Force, including Tu-160 Blackjacks, Tu-95MS Bears, Tu-22M3 Backfire C strategic bombers, A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning aircraft, Il-78 Midas aerial tankers, MiG-31 Foxhound long-range interceptors and Su-27 Flanker frontline fighter aircraft participated in the drills jointly with the navy.

Source:
en.rian.ru...



[edit on 3-2-2008 by DimensionalDetective]