What’s Russia Up To?
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/02/11/russian.bomber/index.html
RUSSIAN BOMBER BUZZES U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER
WASHINGTON (CNN) — American fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers, one of which buzzed a U.S. aircraft carrier in the western Pacific on Saturday, U.S. military officials told CNN Monday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that there was no violation of flight regulations during the incident. A ministry official said the flights are standard operating procedure for air force training.
One of them twice flew about 2,000 feet over the deck of the USS Nimitz Saturday while another flew about 50 miles away, officials said. Two others were at least 100 miles away, the military reported.
U.S. defense officials said four F/A-18A fighter jets from the Nimitz were in the air.
The Russians and the U.S. carrier did not exchange verbal communications.
Four turboprop Tupolev-95 Bear bombers took off from Ukrainka Air Base, in Russia’s Far East, in the middle of the night, Japanese officials told The Associated Press, adding that one of the planes violated Japanese airspace.
Russian bombers have been making flights over the western Pacific for several months.
There have been eight incidents off Alaska since July. Among the latest, on September 5, six F-15s from Elmendorf Air Force Base, adjacent to Anchorage, Alaska, intercepted six Russian bombers about 50 miles from the northwest coast of Alaska.
Two similar incidents occurred in August, one near Cape Lisburne, Alaska, and the other near Cold Bay, Alaska, west of the Aleutian Islands.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN0564833620080305
RUSSIAN BOMBER AGAIN INTERCEPTED NEAR U.S. NAVY SHIP
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Russian bomber aircraft approached a U.S. aircraft carrier off the Korean coast on Wednesday and was intercepted by American fighter jets — the second such incident in less than a month, U.S. defense officials said.
According to the U.S. officials, a Russian bomber came within three to five nautical miles and flew 2,000 feet (610 meters) above the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships.
Two U.S. F/A-18 fighters were launched to intercept the Russian aircraft and escort it out of the area, according to one defense official.
Russian bombers over the past year have increased their flights near U.S. territory and U.S. naval assets, demonstrating their long-range strike capability.
In February, two Russian bombers approached the Nimitz near Japan and one flew over the carrier, escorted by a U.S. fighter jet. That was the first Russian overflight of a U.S. carrier since 2004.
Those operations come as Russian officials say they will revive some of the military power and reach allowed to collapse with the Soviet Union.
U.S. defense officials on Wednesday said they did not consider the Russian bomber flight a threat or concern.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/03/26/us.russian.planes/
U.S. JETS ESCORT RUSSIAN BOMBERS OFF ALASKA COAST
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Two U.S. Air Force F-15s escorted two Russian Bear long-range bombers out of an air exclusion zone off the coast of Alaska, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.
U.S. radar picked up the Russian turbo-prop Tupolev-95 planes about 500 miles off the Alaska coast.
The U.S. fighters from Elmendorf Air Force Base were dispatched to meet the bombers and escorted them out of the area without incident, the officials said.
The United States maintains the air exclusion zone off the coast of Alaska, barring unidentified aircraft or aircraft that don’t file flight plans inside that area.
The last case of Russian aircraft approaching the U.S. coastline or ships in the Pacific was in February.
Then, four Bear bombers flew near the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, with one of them flying about 2,000 feet from the Nimitz’s deck.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said at the time there was no violation of flight regulations during the incident. A ministry official described the flights as standard operating procedure for air force training.
Meanwhile, U.S. military officials say the incidents are not a concern. They say it’s the Russian military flexing its ability and presence.
