Russian bombers intercepted near U.S. Navy vessel

[Wretched Excess]

Russian bombers intercepted near U.S. Navy vessel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian bomber aircraft approached a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Pacific on Saturday and were intercepted by American fighter jets, a U.S. defense official said on Monday.

The bombers, flying south of Japan, were detected turning toward the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships. Four U.S. F/A-18 fighters were launched to intercept the Russian aircraft, the official said.

One of the Russian "Bear" bombers flew over the deck of the Nimitz, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. fighters escorted the Russian bombers out of the area where the Nimitz was operating.

"Nimitz launched aircraft to intercept and escort the Russian aircraft in the vicinity of the aircraft carrier," the official said. "It is standard operating procedure for U.S. planes to escort aircraft flying in the vicinity of U.S. Navy ships."

A Russian bomber last flew over a U.S. aircraft carrier in July 2004, when a Bear flew over the USS Kitty Hawk in the Sea of Japan, the official said.

Russian bombers have ramped up their flights near U.S. territory and U.S. naval assets over the past year, demonstrating their long-range strike capability. In August, Russian bombers were tracked flying a course toward Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific

Those operations come as Russian officials say they will revive some of the military power and reach allowed to collapse with the Soviet Union.

Story

[Wretched Excess]

a tu-95 being "escorted" by an F/A-18.

[Lord Undies]

It saddens me how the Russians have learned nothing from the last century.  If they could only understand they will never ever in a million years be Top Dog, and thet the USA is a much better friend than enemy, they could have it pretty swell.

[Wretched Excess]

It saddens me how the Russians have learned nothing from the last century.  If they could only understand they will never ever in a million years be Top Dog, and thet the USA is a much better friend than enemy, they could have it pretty swell.

the japanese have lodged a protest over the same sortie . . .

Russian bomber cuts into Japanese airspace: official

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan scrambled two dozen military aircraft and lodged a protest, accusing a Russian strategic bomber of entering its airspace over the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo Saturday.

Russia denied the incursion, but the Japanese foreign ministry said it lodged a strong protest with the Russian embassy in Tokyo over the incident, which followed stepped up Russian long-range air patrols over the Atlantic.

"We have asked the Russian government to make a thorough investigation into the matter," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

The Tupolev Tu-95 bomber, which dates to the Soviet era, flew over the rocky isle of Sofugan, 650 kilometres (406 miles) south of Tokyo, for about three minutes from 7:30 am (2230 GMT Friday), the defence ministry said.

The air force scrambled 24 planes, including F-15 fighters and an E-767 radar plane, the defence ministry said.

They gave "a notice, then a warning and another a notice and a warning," a defence ministry statement said. "There was no response."

The Russian bomber then flew back north towards the Russian island of Sakhalin, it said.

linky

[djones520]

What pisses me off is that this information got out.  It was classified Secret, yet someone went a blabbed about it anyways.  I hope they find out who, because he's someone who needs to be removed from the military.

[Wretched Excess]

What pisses me off is that this information got out.  It was classified Secret, yet someone went a blabbed about it anyways.  I hope they find out who, because he's someone who needs to be removed from the military.

it would have been a little hard to deny since a diplomatic protest is impossible to hide.  I would guess it leaked in japan, and al reuters pounded on every US military source they could find until they finally got something.  the ways things like this usually go, there is probably much more to it than this.  all we got was one relatively close tu-95 fly-by while another one circled, and four F/A-18's scrambled.  pretty sketchy stuff, all things considered.

[djones520]

What pisses me off is that this information got out.  It was classified Secret, yet someone went a blabbed about it anyways.  I hope they find out who, because he's someone who needs to be removed from the military.

it would have been a little hard to deny since a diplomatic protest is impossible to hide.  I would guess it leaked in japan, and al reuters pounded on every US military source they could find until they finally got something.  the ways things like this usually go, there is probably much more to it than this.  all we got was one relatively close tu-95 fly-by while another one circled, and four F/A-18's scrambled.  pretty sketchy stuff, all things considered.

This stuff happens a lot more then you hear about...  you just don't hear about it because people keep their mouths shut.

[Wretched Excess]

What pisses me off is that this information got out.  It was classified Secret, yet someone went a blabbed about it anyways.  I hope they find out who, because he's someone who needs to be removed from the military.

it would have been a little hard to deny since a diplomatic protest is impossible to hide.  I would guess it leaked in japan, and al reuters pounded on every US military source they could find until they finally got something.  the ways things like this usually go, there is probably much more to it than this.  all we got was one relatively close tu-95 fly-by while another one circled, and four F/A-18's scrambled.  pretty sketchy stuff, all things considered.

This stuff happens a lot more then you hear about...  you just don't hear about it because people keep their mouths shut.

yeah, I am sure that is true. 

[JohnMatrix]

a tu-95 being "escorted" by an F/A-18.

is that canadian?

[djones520]

Whatever it is, the picture is labelled wrong anyways.  The USAF has never flown F-18's.

[VelvetElvis]

The Russkis have done this stuff forever.
 
I still have a 1974 picture somewhere of two of my ship's Phantoms, with the VF-41 Ace of Spades on their tail, bracketing a Russian Bear bomber with the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt in the background.  They are always probing and testing the American response.

[TheSarge]

Vlad seems intent on either provoking us into something or he's trying to fump some kind of false pride and prestige back in to the Soviet Forces with these show of force stunts.

[Wretched Excess]

Whatever it is, the picture is labelled wrong anyways.  The USAF has never flown F-18's.

hmmm.  found the pic at wiki, and didn't notice that they had tagged it as somehow an USAF fighter.  I was just looking for a TU-95, and was actually sorta jazzed when I found one with an F/A-18.

 

[Wretched Excess]

Vlad seems intent on either provoking us into something or he's trying to fump some kind of false pride and prestige back in to the Soviet Forces with these show of force stunts.

that's pretty much the size of it . . .

. . . relations between the U.S. and Russia have deteriorated to their worst point since the Cold War, largely due to the United States' plans to put a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 missile defense interceptors in Poland.

The U.S. has defended the plan as necessary to protect its European allies from possible attacks by Iran. But the Kremlin has condemned the proposal, saying it would threaten Russia's security.

"We are being forced to take retaliatory steps," said Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also warned that a new arms race is under way.

[Crazy Horse]

is that canadian?

Yes that jet belongs to the Canadian Air Force

[Rebel]

Whatever it is, the picture is labelled wrong anyways.  The USAF has never flown F-18's.

Where did it say they were USAF jets?

[Wretched Excess]

Whatever it is, the picture is labelled wrong anyways.  The USAF has never flown F-18's.

Where did it say they were USAF jets?

the actual filename of the picture I linked to from wiki is "/800px-Tupolev_Tu_95_USAF.jpg".  like I said, I linked to it just because it was a TU-95 and an F/A-18, which were the two types of aircraft involved.

[Crazy Horse]

Whatever it is, the picture is labelled wrong anyways.  The USAF has never flown F-18's.

Where did it say they were USAF jets?

the actual filename of the picture I linked to from wiki is "/800px-Tupolev_Tu_95_USAF.jpg".  like I said, I linked to it just because it was a TU-95 and an F/A-18, which were the two types of aircraft involved.

So other than the actual filename of the picture saying USAF (even though it's identified in 2 other places as canadian) without giving any designation. So the picture is labeled right as it's labeled as a CF-18.

[Wretched Excess]

Whatever it is, the picture is labelled wrong anyways.  The USAF has never flown F-18's.

Where did it say they were USAF jets?

the actual filename of the picture I linked to from wiki is "/800px-Tupolev_Tu_95_USAF.jpg".  like I said, I linked to it just because it was a TU-95 and an F/A-18, which were the two types of aircraft involved.

So other than the actual filename of the picture saying USAF (even though it's identified in 2 other places as canadian) without giving any designation. So the picture is labeled right as it's labeled as a CF-18.

I can't even tell from that sentence what it is that you are taking exception to.

[Crazy Horse]

You don't know what I'm thinking and trying to type??

I was saying that nowhere is that aircraft identified as being in the USAF, other than the file name having USAF in it. Under the description of the picture it sat CAF. On the caption for the picture it says CF-18.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Filename probably means USAF was the source for the pic.

Hard to see this as a particularly big deal, any country with an air force probes around with it to see what they can see and to see what they can get away with.

[Lauri]

Vlad seems intent on either provoking us into something or he's trying to fump some kind of false pride and prestige back in to the Soviet Forces with these show of force stunts.

that's pretty much the size of it . . .

. . . relations between the U.S. and Russia have deteriorated to their worst point since the Cold War, largely due to the United States' plans to put a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 missile defense interceptors in Poland.

The U.S. has defended the plan as necessary to protect its European allies from possible attacks by Iran. But the Kremlin has condemned the proposal, saying it would threaten Russia's security.

"We are being forced to take retaliatory steps," said Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also warned that a new arms race is under way.

there is definitely something going on in Europe and the Middle East in regards to an arms race... Syria is getting in on it, and Iran has declared they wont back off testing nukes and rockets.

are they trying to force someone's hand?

[formerlurker]

Ruskies flying drunk again -- my bad, did I invade Japan's airspace?

They have been annoying the Brits for over a year now.   They have nothing better to do apparently.

 

[Wretched Excess]

the wording has been inconsistent in many of the stories about this incident as to exactly how close the russian bomber got to the nimitz.  well, the answer is that it flew directly over it at pretty damn low altitude. 

Feb. 12: A U.S. F/A-18 fighter intercepts a Russian Tupolev 95 as the giant bomber buzzed the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the western Pacific over the weekend.

I saw this photo on foxnews last night, and googled it up this morning.  on the FNC broadcast, this photo was purportedly taken from the flight deck.  THAT is freaking CLOSE.

[Chris_]

the wording has been inconsistent in many of the stories about this incident as to exactly how close the russian bomber got to the nimitz.  well, the answer is that it flew directly over it at pretty damn low altitude. 

Feb. 12: A U.S. F/A-18 fighter intercepts a Russian Tupolev 95 as the giant bomber buzzed the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the western Pacific over the weekend.

I saw this photo on foxnews last night, and googled it up this morning.  on the FNC broadcast, this photo was purportedly taken from the flight deck.  THAT is freaking CLOSE.

I wonder why the Task Force Commander allowed the "Bear" to get that close to the carrier?  I would've thought it would have been intercepted before coming over the horizion.....what was their CAP doing??

doc