RAF Jets Intercept
Eight Russian Bombers: Tupolev 95s

DAVID BLAIR / The Telegraph (UK) 9sep2007

The RAF carried out its biggest operation to protect British airspace since the Cold War when four Tornados were scrambled to intercept eight Russian bombers approaching over the Atlantic.

An early warning aircraft and a VC-10 tanker were also launched to support the British fighters responding to apparent sabre-rattling by President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian aircraft, all Tupolev 95s, codenamed "Bears" by NATO, turned back before reaching British airspace.

This was the biggest deployment of Russian bombers to probe British air defences since the Cold War. Although the ''Bear'' is obsolescent, dating from the 1950s, Russia uses it for long-range reconnaissance missions, designed to test an opponent's reaction time.

Flush with oil wealth, Russia has become increasingly assertive in recent months. President Putin has consciously revived memories of the Cold War by sending bombers to test the air defences of NATO countries, notably Norway and America as well as Britain.

In Thursday's incident Norway's air force was the first to intercept the Russian formation over the Barents Sea.

Shadowed by Norwegian F-16 fighters, the ''Bears'' continued their patrol and entered airspace over the Atlantic which Britain is responsible for protecting.

The RAF keeps four fighters — either Tornado F3s or Eurofighter Typhoons — on "quick reaction alert" to intercept intruders, which yesterday launched from RAF Leeming in Yorkshire.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the Tornadoes were scrambled at first light.

Because of the size of the Russian formation and the need to "monitor the air picture", a Boeing E3 Sentry early warning aircraft, capable of providing long-range radar coverage and guidance for the fighters, was launched from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The distance the RAF jets would have to travel and the time they might spend shadowing the Russian bombers was unclear. So a VC-10 tanker, able to provide air-to-air refuelling, also took off from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

By sunrise, four of the jets that Britain relies on to guard its airspace were heading towards the North Atlantic. But an MoD spokesman denied that the country was left undefended for any period.

''Once the first two aircraft are launched, we stand up another two, we arm them and we get the crews ready. We can do that in pretty short order. So for every two that go up, we make sure that another two are ready," he said.

The Tornados intercepted the Russian aircraft over the Atlantic, using procedures developed during the Cold War.

They shadowed the ''Bears'', carefully tracking their progress. The MoD said that all the Russian aircraft turned back before reaching British airspace.

"People may believe this is all pretty simple. But in fact there's a lot to this and that's why we have to be very well practised and coordinated," said an RAF officer.

The incident is the latest in a campaign of muscle-flexing by the Kremlin designed to put pressure on both the West and Russia's neighbours.

The former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Ukraine, have come under direct pressure from the Kremlin.

Both have seen their crucial supplies of natural gas disrupted after defying Russia.

But a British official said that despite recent tensions, Russia was still seen as "key international partner".

RAF Tornados fact sheet

• Roles: Long-distance patrol and air defence. Equipped with external fuel pods for long-range missions
• Crew: Two (plot and weapons officer)
• Max speed: Mach 2.2
• Max Altitude: 50,000ft
• Weapons: Sidewinder and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. ASRAAM missiles. Mauser 27mm cannon.
• Developed: from original Tornado GR1 attack aircraft in the late 1970s
• Entered service: 1986, replacing the RAF's Lightning and Phantom fighters
• Replaced: by Typhoon F2 Eurofighter tornado firepower

source:: 13sep2007

Cat and Mouse Games Echo Cold War

CON COUGHLIN / The Telegraph (UK) 9sep2007

Analysis

The dangerous game of cat and mouse being played out in airspace protected by Britain has been provoked by Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to attempt to re-assert his country's military prowess.

In what amounts to a re-enactment of Moscow's Cold War strategy, Mr Putin last month announced that he had given the order for Russia's fleet of nuclear strike bombers to resume their patrols throughout international airspace.

This resulted in the Russian Defence Ministry's announcement that fourteen strategic Tupolev 95 Bear bombers had commenced routine patrol operations over the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic.

The Russians are quite within their rights to conduct such missions, which can be useful for maintaining or up-grading their defence capabilities.

NATO bombers regularly conduct such missions, although they generally confine them to NATO-controlled or neutral international airspace.

But the Russian exercises, which are probably designed as much to test NATO's air defence readiness as to improve the operational effectiveness of Russia's nuclear bomber fleet, are nevertheless fraught with danger as they are being undertaken against a background of mounting tensions between the West and the Kremlin.

In one of the worst incidents during the Cold War, the climate of mistrust led to the Russian air force shooting down a Korean Air Lines jumbo jet in 1983, with the loss of 269 lives.

In the latest incident a fleet of eight Tupolev aircraft were detected flying in a loose formation of four pairs and heading for international airspace that is regularly patrolled by NATO.

Initially they were intercepted by Norwegian F-16 jets. But as they entered the NATO area for which Britain has responsibility they were shadowed by four RAF F3 Tornado fighters.

The bombers eventually altered course to leave the NATO zone and headed back to their base.

The increased Russian air activity is part of Mr Putin's ambitious attempts to revive Russia's reputation as one of the world's leading military powers.

The end of the Cold War resulted in a drastic reduction in the size and effectiveness of Moscow's military arsenal, which left the United States as the world's undisputed military superpower.

But Russia's resurgent economy, which has been achieved by Mr Putin's renationalisation of the country's vast energy resources, has allowed the Russian leader to revive Moscow's military ambitions to the extent that NATO forces constantly need to be on their guard to be ready to react to any challenge the Russians may pose to Western security.

Mr Putin has also warned of Russia's need to modernise its nuclear arsenal in the face of the Bush administration's plans to deploy its anti-missile defence system in central Europe.

source: 13sep2007