Flights testing one another’s air defenses was a popular pastime in the NATO and Soviet Union air forces during the Cold War, and has continued since, albeit at a much diminished rate. Still, such flights happen from time to time, and are usually sparsely reported.
Air Force commander for Pacific Command Gen. Herbert ‘Hawk’ Carlisle is making a lot of hay about the recent Russian flights in the Pacific, concluding that anything that happens concurrently with the situation in the Ukraine must clearly be a consequence of the Ukraine.
Speaking to a think tank in DC, Gen. Carlisle spoke in dramatic tones of Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers “circumnavigating” the tiny island of Guam and even coming within reach of the California coast, concluding “what’s going on in Ukraine and Crimea is a challenge for us in Asia Pacific as well as Europe.”
A similar story of the aging Tu-95 prop planes making flights off the coast of Scotland was reported late last month, with similar spin about a “new Cold War.” The multiple flights in 2013 never got such publicity, though none happened to coincide with rising anti-Russia sentiment.
Herbert 'Hawk' Carlisle, eh? Sounds like a character that hack Tom Clancy would have come up with. The egos of these brass hat fruit salad wearers is something else, isn't it? Besides, if the US is going to put troops right on Russia's doorstep in Eastern Europe, the I'd say Russia has a right to conduct reconnaissance flights in international airspace near US territory. That went on for decades during the Cold War–why does the general have his panties in a bunch over it now?
Anyway, that Tu-95 is an impressive aircraft with four of those eight-bladed turboprop engines running–incredibly noisy, I understand. It is descended from the US B-29, several of which made emergency landings in the USSR after bombing Japan during WW2 and were copied by Soviet engineers.
I have heard that after cries of this Air commander seeing links between Ukraine and there flights, Russian side suggested him to go to school and take some lessons of geography.
i believe several years ago i was watching Robert gates testifying before a congressional committee, i forget the details of what it was about.
but i remember gates being asked about america losing its edge of the Russians, and gates responded with.
* found the exact quote.
was a speach
"The disparity with other countries is even greater when it comes to pilot quality and logistics. Last year the United States Air Force devoted one-and-a-half million hours to flight training – not counting ongoing operations – and conducted roughly 35,000 aerial refueling missions. The Russian Air Force, by comparison, conducted about 30 refueling sorties."
i believe several years ago i was watching Robert gates testifying before a congressional committee, i forget the details of what it was about.
but i remember gates being asked about america losing its edge of the Russians, and gates responded with.
* found the exact quote.
was a speech "Air Force Association Convention
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, National Harbor, MD, Wednesday, September 16, 2009"
"The disparity with other countries is even greater when it comes to pilot quality and logistics. Last year the United States Air Force devoted one-and-a-half million hours to flight training – not counting ongoing operations – and conducted roughly 35,000 aerial refueling missions. The Russian Air Force, by comparison, conducted about 30 refueling sorties."
"Air Force Association Convention
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, National Harbor, MD, Wednesday, September 16, 2009"
"The disparity with other countries is even greater when it comes to pilot quality and logistics. Last year the United States Air Force devoted one-and-a-half million hours to flight training – not counting ongoing operations – and conducted roughly 35,000 aerial refueling missions. The Russian Air Force, by comparison, conducted about 30 refueling sorties."
"Air Force Association Convention
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates,
National Harbor, MD, Wednesday, September 16, 2009"
"The disparity with other countries is even greater when it comes to pilot quality and logistics. Last year the United States Air Force devoted one-and-a-half million hours to flight training – not counting ongoing operations – and conducted roughly 35,000 aerial refueling missions. The Russian Air Force, by comparison, conducted about 30 refueling sorties."
The thing is probably being hyped to highlight the antiquated nature of the Russian military.
The TU-95s in question have probably never served in the capacity of bombers. While the airframe was originally developed as a strategic bomber, and is continued in that purpose in some models, the planes that fly these missions are outfitted from day one for electronic reconnaissance, "Sigint" or signals intelligence collection. The mission schedules are developed on a monthly or quarterly basis, it's the hyping of the flights by the US for propaganda purposes which is the sole connection to the "crisis" being manufactured in Ukraine. I was years ago an operator on board the US counterpart aircraft. The members of that crew and that plane are more endangered than they are a danger.