When Bears Come Calling

And no, this isn't an Animal Uprising™ story. Russian Tupolev 95s and Tupolev 160s (NATO designators Bear and Blackjack, respectively) have been intruding into British airspace. Britain has had to scramble Tornado fighters to meet three separate incursions in the past few days.

But the arrival in yesterday's early hours of the Tupolev aircraft - also known as Bears - suggests president Vladimir Putin is not backing down.

Two Tornados were scrambled from RAF Leeming, near Darlington, after two Tu95 bombers were picked up on radar. They were intercepted inside British airspace shortly after 2am but, with the RAF pilots on their tail, the intruders turned and flew north.

Another alert a few hours later led to the scrambling of two more Tornados. RAF sources said the planes were recalled when it turned out that the Tu160 Blackjack bomber was only on the "fringes of UK airspace". It also made off to the north from a position off Scotland.

Tuesday's incident saw two Tu95s approached by Norwegian F16s and RAF Tornados off the coast of Norway.

Russian air force commander Colonel Alexander Zein said the encounter had no connection with the political row between London and Moscow.

"Our planes were flying planned flights over neutral waters," he insisted. Yesterday a Russian air force spokesman said all the sorties were training flights.

The Tu95 can carry missiles as well as undertake surveillance missions.

With a range of more than 8,000 miles at a top speed of 575mph, it was the Russian answer to the American B-52. The Tu95 took its maiden flight in the early 1950s and was designed to drop nuclear weapons.

It has been redesigned to carry cruise missiles and can even be converted for use as a civilian airliner.

The Tu160, which can reach speeds of up to 1,380mph, was brought into service in the 1980s.

Nicknamed the White Swan by its Russian pilots, it can carry up to 88,000 lbs of ordnance including either cruise or short-range nuclear missiles.

Russian authorities would not disclose whether the planes in this week's incidents were carrying bombs or simply on surveillance duties.

Putin has resurrected the Cold War, big time.

UPDATE: Ooops. Meant to include these links:  Bears, Blackjacks.

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  By Sylvia, Friday, 20 July , 2007 @ 8:52 pm

  So, what’s the status of the RAF? Are they getting any funding? How’s their recruiting?

Other Links to this Post

1. Maggie's Farm — Sunday, 22 July , 2007 @ 4:48 am