IS RUSSIAN BOMBERS FIRING OF CRUISE MISSILES OVER ARCTIC A TEST OF U.S. RESPONSE
SEPT 6 2007
Officials: Norwegian, British Fighters Scramble to Monitor Russian Bombers - Sept 6
Russian bombers to fire cruise missiles
over Arctic
Irish Independent
Tuesday September 4, 2007
President Vladimir Putin flexed Russia's military muscles once again yesterday
when his government said that 12 strategic bombers would practise firing
cruise missiles during a show-of-strength exercise over the Arctic.
The giant Tupolev 95 aircraft were due to take off from five air bases,
including one near the Bering Straits, separating Russia from Alaska.
Mr Putin has made great efforts to extend Russian influence over the Arctic,
which may have untapped mineral wealth. Russia has dispatched a scientific
expedition to the polar ice-cap and last month a submarine dropped the
national flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole.
Monday's launch of a "tactical exercise" by the Russian air force, which is
due to last for 48 hours, was the Kremlin's latest attempt to send a message
of national resurgence.
But there was a symbolic ring to the occasion. The Tu-95 aircraft, which Nato
codenames the 'Bear,' is an obsolescent model. Powered by four turbo-prop
engines, the Bear is packed with antiquated technology dating from its first
flight 53 years ago.
The long-range aircraft was originally designed to compete with the American
B-29 Superfortress -- the Second World War bomber responsible for dropping the
atomic bomb in 1945.
Today, the Bear is designed to steer clear of hostile air space and fire
cruise missiles at targets hundreds of miles away.
This "stand off" role is the only way the Bear can be used as a strike
aircraft because the lumbering, propeller-driven giant cannot defend itself
against even the weakest air forces.
The only weapons the Bear carries for its own safety are machine guns mounted
on rotating turrets of the kind that German bombers used against Spitfires
during the Battle of Britain 67 years ago.
Until this year, Russia's armed forces were in such a parlous state that they
could not even conduct strategic patrols with Bears.
The Russian air force halted this regular feature of the Cold War in 1992 in
order to save money.
Mr Putin's resumption of strategic patrols -- even with obsolescent aircraft
-- has echoes of the Cold War when Soviet bombers and Nato fighters regularly
fenced over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Last month, a Bear ventured towards British air space and was intercepted by
two Eurofighter Typhoons, which belonged to the RAF.
Parliamentary elections will take place in Russia in December and a new
president will succeed Mr Putin next year. The Kremlin's increasingly
assertive foreign policy is designed to show the Russian people that their
country is a global player once again.
Prophecy News - End times Prophecy News for Russia, China, Iran, Bush, World, America, Iraq, Syria, North Korea,
![]() |
||
PLEASE SIGN UP AND ADD THESE FREE ADVERTISERS TO YOUR SITE |
||
|
|
|
![]() |
|
|
|
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
|
|
|
|
|
|
![]() |
|
Spirit and Truth |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
Please rate this site at Just4Christ Top 50 Christian Sites |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
||
|
||
![]() |