RUSSIA/KAZAKHSTAN: Russian long-haul bomber flights revived

Russia sends 14 bomber aircraft on patrols well beyond its airspace, marking the permanent return to a Soviet-era practice. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday (August 17) security threats had forced Russia to revive the Soviet-era practice of sending bomber aircraft on regular patrols beyond its borders. Putin said 14 bombers had taken off simultaneously from airfields across Russia in the early hours of Friday on long-range missions. "I have decided to restore flights by the Russian strategic aviation on a permanent basis," Putin told reporters after inspecting joint military exercises with China and four Central Asian states in Russia's Ural mountains. "Today, August 17 at 00:00 hours, 14 strategic bombers took to the air from seven airfields across the country, along with support and refuelling aircraft. The military air patrol, involving some 20 military aircraft has begun; as of today such military air patrols will become regular," Putin said. Putin said when Russia had cut the flights in 1992, other military powers had not reciprocated. "Flights by other countries' strategic aircraft continue and this creates certain problems for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation," Putin said. The Russian president said air patrols will take place in areas of busy shipping and areas key to the economic activities of the Russian Federation. One Western defence official called the flights "a little bit of chest-pounding, trying to let people know Russia is back in the game". In July, Britain's Royal Air Force scrambled fighter jets to intercept two Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" bombers heading towards British airspace. Russia's air force said it was a routine flight. Earlier this month Russian air force generals said bomber crews had flown near the Pacific island of Guam, where the U.S. military has a base, and "exchanged smiles" with U.S. pilots scrambled to track them. The Pentagon said the Russian aircraft had not come close enough to U.S. ships to prompt American aircraft to react. During the Cold War, Russian long-range bombers, which are capable of carrying strategic nuclear weapons, played elaborate games of cat-and-mouse with Western air forces.

ITN Source | August 18, 2007

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