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Russian planes intercepted near U.S., Canadian airspace
wo U.S. jets intercepted six Russian planes that neared U.S. airspace off Alaska on Thursday and Canadian planes intercepted two Russian bombers that approached Canadian airspace, NORAD reported. A U.S. official told CNN's Barbara Starr that officials in Washington think the incidents were related to the visit by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who talked to Canadian officials Wednesday and President Barack Obama on Thursday. The United States promised Ukraine $46 million in… (www.cnn.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Folks, this use to happen all the time during to the Cold War! It's just military posturing!!
Yup, nothing more then "Cold War" style show of force! It's not a good sign though, that this type of activity is starting up again.
True that. During the 80's I flew as a crewman on EP-3s. This type of thing was just another day at work...and definitely wasn't newsworthy.
Everybody brings up KAL007 but there is not much mention made of the fact that we had an EC135 playing cat and mouse all night off the Russian coast in that same airspace, just going in a circle , in and out, that already had Russian Air Defense on ready anyway.
During the Cold War, this was called "Thursday". Our CF-18s in Lithuania are closer to Russia than these Bears came to Canada. Our frigate in the Black Sea is closer to Russia than these Bears were to Canada. The current MND's hysteria about these aircraft is as ridiculous as was his predecessor's breathless announcement about two Bears just before Obama visited Canada. Only problem was they weren't where or when he claimed and all Bear intercepts had been, and continue to be, outside Canadian air space.
Recently, the same MND was crying about some Russian aircraft overflying an RCN ship in the Black Sea, conveniently without any photos to prove it (not one sailor on deck had an iPhone?) and even more conveniently forgetting that if a Russian warship was that close to Canada, we'd send multiple aircraft out to look at it, too -- and then they'd continue to shadow it. One of the basic Rules of Diplomacy is "Don't complain about the same things you do, too."
And speaking of idiotic MNDs, the same one also used the Battle of Britain memorial on Sunday to introduce new rank insignia and uniform buttons (they've all changed from gold to silver), which he described as "new uniforms for the RCAF". What should have been a solemn ceremony of remembrance and respect for those who died in RCAF service was turned into a photo op for the minister. Classy, real classy.
Those of you outside Canada should know the current regime is facing a federal election in 2015 and the polls have them worried. Very worried. Several scandals have and continue to hurt them, with one about to go to trial in which a Senator appointed by the current PM is eagerly awaiting his chance to get revenge for being thrown under the bus (plus he's guilty of filing false expense claims). These and many other problems have the current regime running scared and it's partly why Dear Leader has been so mouthy to and about the Russians. Of course, being able to shout at them over the shoulder of Uncle Sam makes it easier to be so bellicose. Sending six CF-18s to Romania after Crimea was heisted may have looked good, but they were completely unarmed. Now there are just four CF-18s in Lithuania, but at least they do have weapons. No disrespect to the RCAF pilots involved, but they'll need them to fight their way west because Dear Leader will haul them out of there faster than the speed of sound if the Russians start a shooting war. Like the bully he is, our PM is all talk and no action.
And as far as the Russians sending bombers to various parts of international air space, keep in mind that for many, many years, the USAF had a 24/7 presence of B-52s armed with nuclear weapons orbiting just outside Russian air space. Remember that basic diplomacy rule.
Recently, the same MND was crying about some Russian aircraft overflying an RCN ship in the Black Sea, conveniently without any photos to prove it (not one sailor on deck had an iPhone?) and even more conveniently forgetting that if a Russian warship was that close to Canada, we'd send multiple aircraft out to look at it, too -- and then they'd continue to shadow it. One of the basic Rules of Diplomacy is "Don't complain about the same things you do, too."
And speaking of idiotic MNDs, the same one also used the Battle of Britain memorial on Sunday to introduce new rank insignia and uniform buttons (they've all changed from gold to silver), which he described as "new uniforms for the RCAF". What should have been a solemn ceremony of remembrance and respect for those who died in RCAF service was turned into a photo op for the minister. Classy, real classy.
Those of you outside Canada should know the current regime is facing a federal election in 2015 and the polls have them worried. Very worried. Several scandals have and continue to hurt them, with one about to go to trial in which a Senator appointed by the current PM is eagerly awaiting his chance to get revenge for being thrown under the bus (plus he's guilty of filing false expense claims). These and many other problems have the current regime running scared and it's partly why Dear Leader has been so mouthy to and about the Russians. Of course, being able to shout at them over the shoulder of Uncle Sam makes it easier to be so bellicose. Sending six CF-18s to Romania after Crimea was heisted may have looked good, but they were completely unarmed. Now there are just four CF-18s in Lithuania, but at least they do have weapons. No disrespect to the RCAF pilots involved, but they'll need them to fight their way west because Dear Leader will haul them out of there faster than the speed of sound if the Russians start a shooting war. Like the bully he is, our PM is all talk and no action.
And as far as the Russians sending bombers to various parts of international air space, keep in mind that for many, many years, the USAF had a 24/7 presence of B-52s armed with nuclear weapons orbiting just outside Russian air space. Remember that basic diplomacy rule.
I agree 100% with your posting. We lacked immediate global communications back in the 80's as well. Now everyone has a means of reporting events that occur immediately after. We don't have to wait a week for photos or video that must be processed and shipped. These things were happening every single day, but your average Joe didn't have a clue.
I was at the lower end of South Korea in 1971 at Kunsan. Our F-4's were on alert 24-7 as we were right on the yellow sea across from China, but it was a regular occurrence for the KC135's to drop in to refill because they had so many birds in the air floating around, from looking glass to just the normal poke & prod of Russian, Chinese and North Korean Air defenses. U-2 were based at Osan and the blackbirds were at Kadena, down in Okinawa and let's just say they all flew to the West, not back east unless coming home. You are correct in that the average joe knew nothing about it and personally, as with most 'Nam era spitters, didn't want to.