USAF F-22 Fighters Intercepted Russian Strategic Bombers in International Airspace near Alaska

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On Wednesday, the Minoborony Rossii reported that USAF F-22 fighters intercepted Tu-95MS strategic bombers on a patrol mission in international airspace near Alaska:

On 17 April 2017, two Tu-95MS strategic bombers from the Ukrainka airbase (in the Far Eastern Amur Oblast) successfully performed tasks under the air patrol schedule. The route of the flight ran above neutral waters in the Pacific Ocean, along the Aleutian Islands. The aircraft covered about 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles) at a speed of up to 850 kph (528 mph) and at a height of up to 10,000 metres (32,809 feet). The flight lasted more than seven hours. USAF F-22 fighters accompanied the Tu-95MS bombers for 27 minutes. Long-Range Aviation regularly carries out patrol missions above neutral waters in the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Black Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. It carries out all such missions in strict compliance with international regulations and with respect to national borders.

Earlier, Pentagon spokesman Michelle Baldanza told TASS that the USAF scrambled two F-22 fighters on Tuesday to intercept Russian bombers near the coast of Alaska. Citing unnamed US defence officials, Fox News reported that the USAF scrambled two F-22 fighters and an E-3 airborne early warning plane to intercept the Russian aircraft, which flew roughly 280 miles (450 kilometres) southwest of Elmendorf Air Force Base, within the USA’s Air Defence Identification Zone. Fox stated that the last spotting of Russian bombers near the US borders was on 4 July 2015, off the coasts of Alaska and California, coming as close as 40 miles (65 kilometres) to Mendocino in California.

19 April 2017

TASS

http://tass.com/defense/941993

Editor:

As the Tu-95s were in international airspace, they had every right to be there. This was a subtle warning from the “polite people” to the “exceptional Americans”… “We’re not pushovers and we’re not going to kowtow to you, either”. One wonders if Trump got the message…

BMD

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5 june 2016. On Guard For Peace… Do The Anglo Brats REALLY Want Round Two?

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The last time that the Russians and Chinese faced off against the windy and hubristical Anglos, they won. Yes, kids, they did… in Korea, the Sov and Chinese war aim was to restore the status quo ante. In large measure, they did so. The VVS won air superiority over the skies of the DPRK and the Chinese infantryman proved himself superior to his American opponents (and certainly far better than the Yanks’ ROK collaborators). The MiGs couldn’t approach closer than 50 kilometres of the edge of the contact zone, which was behind the FEBA (Forward Edge of the Battle Area) and MLR (Main Line of Resistance)… that meant that the USAF had free rein in the combat zone, which was the only reason that the Yanks held back the Chinese infantry.

On the other hand, the Yanks failed in their war aim… to conquer the Korean peninsula and threaten the PRC. That failed miserably. The Yanks didn’t know what hit them when the Chinese infantry smashed their advance at the Chosin Reservoir. The Chinese proved themselves masters of infiltration and general infantry tactics, besides which, they were skilled night fighters, even though they had limited technical communications means. The Sov MiGs could open fire on USAF fighters before the Yanks could return fire as the MiGs had autocannon and the F-86s only had machine guns. By the way, after the war, the USAF abandoned machine guns, as the war had proven them worthless, if not dangerous to their pilots (by allowing the enemy “free space” to fire at them). That proves that the Mighty Yanks had learnt a lesson (at the price of blood shed… but that’s never fazed the Anglos, has it?).

In short, the USA doesn’t do well against peers… for that matter, it hasn’t done well against middle powers supported by major powers (as shown in Vietnam). It also hasn’t done well in insurgencies (Chinese Civil War, French Wars in Indochina and Algeria, Portuguese Colonial War in Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq), whether directly involved or as the major power backer of a proxy. That is, the USA is NOT a “hyperpower”… it is the dominant power in the Americas, to be sure, and its homeland is immune from invasion so long as the USN controls the sealanes. However, it isn’t the monopower that crackbrains like Wolfowitz maintain. Sadly, neoliberals (both “conservatives” and “liberals”) feed young American officers the pabulum that the USA can overwhelm any adversary… it’ll take much blood spilt to unlearn that “lesson”… actually, God willing, Russia and China will deter the American brats… such is my desire, any road…

BMD

65 Years Ago Today… Soviet Fighters Started Operations Over Korea… Ending America’s Air Supremacy

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Today in military history… on 1 November 1950, Soviet fighter aircraft began operations against American forces in the skies over Korea. On that day, Senior Lieutenant Khominich of the 64 Fighter Air Corps (64 IAK) shot down an American fighter. The Korean War was the last time that the USA faced peer forces (the Soviet VVS and the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army). Ever since then, America has never fought an equal… perhaps, that’s the reason for their grandiosity and arrogance? It’s a possibility…

BMD

16 June 2015. “Protected by NATO”… The Profound Unease in the Baltic States

Protected by NATO

Robert Ariail

2014

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There’s been much brouhaha over the supposed stockpiling of American equipment in the Baltic States. Well, there’s much less to this than meets the eye at first glance. There’s going to be enough equipment for 6,000 troops, that is, two mechanised brigades. There’s doubt whether it’d be equipment for two heavy brigades, it appears that matériel for lighter so-called “Stryker” brigades are what’s under consideration. Well, there are considerably more than two brigades in the PEACETIME Russian forces in this particular theatre of operations… not to mention that mobilisation would add much more in quicker time than it’d take the USA to move reinforcements to the region.

Furthermore, the USA wouldn’t only have to move the equipment to the regions; they’d have to have proper storage facilities for the stuff. No doubt, much of it would be “cocooned” for long storage, which’d mean that it’d take time to get it ready for operational use. This isn’t to mention the fact that it costs money to store that amount of equipment and to keep it maintained and fit. That’s not to mention that munitions for at least a month’s worth of intensive ops would have to be on hand as well. Oh, let’s not forget POL* storage, too… tanks are gas-guzzlers, after all.

• POL: Petroleum, Oil products, Lubricants

This isn’t to mention how one gets the soldiers from bases in CONUS* to the intended theatre of operations. It’s much more complicated than most laymen think. Firstly, you must get the bubbas in line at the base, round-up all the drunks, double-check to make sure that everyone’s accounted-for, and see to it that there’s enough transport to move them. That’s at least a day, if not more, and that’s BEFORE you go from the base to Travis or McGuire*. That’ll take at least another day, if not more. Then, you have to load the bubbas on the aircraft. That’s a full day at the airbase. Now, you’ve gotten in the air! That’s 10 to 12 hours flight time, at least. The bubbas are no damned good for anything after such a flight, so another day is shot. That’s four days so far… the next day, you get the bubbas up and counted… and get the equipment up-and-running. If you’re lucky, you’ll only have a few duds, if not, well, “Houston, we have a problem”. If you are VERY, VERY LUCKY… you might have forces in contact with the enemy after five days. That’s the fastest kids… if they were using requisitioned civil airliners, that’d complicate matters, as such craft don’t have the proper IFF transponders (which ups the chance of a friendly “blue-on-blue” shootdown) and they don’t have capability to load any heavy equipment, except for stuff that can fit in a standard airline cargo container.

• CONUS: Continental USA, refers to the 48 contiguous states
• Travis and McGuire: Travis AFB in California and McGuire AFB in New Jersey are the two main US Air Force Air Mobility Command bases in CONUS

The fun isn’t over. What units are available for deployment? Are they up to TO&E*? Are they regular or reserve? Most reserve units aren’t up to TO&E in either equipment or personnel… not to mention the fact that such reserve units have to call in their troops and muster before one can even start the process I detailed above. That is, the brouhaha is over less than nothing. Before the American units could get there, Russian units would hold the airports necessary for the Yanks to deploy intheatre. There’s no strategic depth in the Baltic States…Russian heavy mechanised units could be in all major locations within 24 hours. That is, they’re strategically indefensible. This is nothing but political bullshit. The USA has only a limited number of ground units actually available, with most regular units tied down in the Middle Eastern theatre or in Central Asia, or at home recuperating from deployments to those theatres. There’s nothing in the cupboard.

Oh, one last thing… there’s no equipment in Europe to send, so all the stuff will have to come from CONUS. That is, it’d be at least a year until this cockamamie plan could BEGIN… let alone, be in actual operation. Its smoke n’ mirrors of the most odious sort. It’s an attempt to do nothing but look as though the USA is actually doing something.

The Baltic States are a “Bridge Too Far”…

• TO&E: Table of Organisation and Equipment… most units fall short in one way or another, others are just paper fictions (especially in the National Guard, which can be political footballs in most states).

BMD