Everyone involved pretty much treats it as surprise training at this point. The USAF gets to practice a scramble and intercept, the Russian bomber pilots get some flight time, everyone gets to see everyone else's reaction time and methods, and nobody gets shot up.

In the 80s they would get too close to a carrier group's CAP and have to be escorted away by F-14s, sometimes by throttling back and lifting the inboard wing of the Bear, forcing it to bank away. They flip us off, we flip them off, another day at the WestPac office.

I was stationed in a naval aviation squadron in Japan in the late sixties. As far as the Russians, it was a game. North Korea, different story, they shot down one of our planes off of their coast in April of 69, killing everyone aboard.

the old Bears keep on ticking

When the aircraft was under development it was known in Russia as the TU-20. NATO picked up on the name and designated the TU-20 as the "Bear".

Thing is, TU-20 was only the development name. By the time it went into actual production, the Russians were using its full and proper name, the TU-95. NATO never updated their designation, so the TU-95 continued to be referred to as the TU-20 by NATO for many many decades. Technically, however, the Russians have never had a production bomber called the TU-20.

No stealth here.

yup

Their engines are really loud.

The noise comes from the props, and not so much the engines. The tips of the props are moving faster than the speed of sound, while the bomber is only moving a fraction of that speed, so each of the 8 props emits a mini rolling sonic boom as it approaches. Hearing protection is standard issue for the crews.

Great video of a few in action: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=add_1357824243&comments=1

The harmonic frequency emitted by the contra-rotating props can be picked up underwater, now that's LOUD.

but they are beauties.

good old Revell glue, it melted plastic if you used too much, burned good too

fun times

although I've always preferred the looks of the B-1B Lancer.



or the FB=111 Aardvark.

la

or even Russia's TU-160 BlackJack Bomber

Oh, they were just capable of carrying bombs, and bombs could be nuclear. Just a horse shit story, we fly B52s all over the world.

I take it you made this statement without actually studying the implications.

Those old Bears didn't fly thousands of miles with only conventional warheads on their cruise missiles capable of 1200 mile strikes.

Nobody should "freak out." But the people obsessed with the ME and the Kardashians are also the people who laugh off a rising China asserting itself, a country who teaches their children from birth the the US is their sworn enemy developing nukes, and Russia asserting itself with cold-war tactics.

Flying near Guam, which we have recently placed B-2s, on the night of the SOTU, was no accident. It was the most dangerous world event since they simulated an attack on Alaska and California in 2009 (where our interceptors are based). Before that it was rolling tanks into Georgia, and the US docking ships there.

We all seem to live in this bubble that rational people have their "finger on the button." But when you leave the world's fate up to mid-level officers flying a plane, shit can happen.

It is bad enough that Boris Yeltsin saved man-kind in 1995, when he was being told he had only minutes to launch a full-scale counter attack on the US.

"This event resulted in a full alert being passed up through the military chain of command all the way to President Boris Yeltsin, who was notified immediately and the "nuclear briefcase" (known in Russia as Cheget) used to authorize nuclear launch was automatically activated. President Boris Yeltsin activated his "nuclear keys" for the first time. No warning was issued to the Russian populace of any incident; it was reported in the news a week afterward.[1]

As a result of the alert, Russian submarine commanders were ordered to go into a state of combat readiness and prepare for nuclear retaliation.

After a while, Russian observers were able to determine that the rocket was heading away from Russian airspace and was not a threat. The rocket fell to earth as planned, near Spitsbergen, 24 minutes after launch.[1]

The Norwegian rocket incident was the first and only incident where any nuclear weapons state had its nuclear suitcases activated and prepared for launching an attack.[1]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_rocket_incident



I am not picking on you, I am just astonished at the indifference people have to the threat of nuclear war. Maybe it is because so many youth can only see you-tube videos of atmospheric tests, so it is like a distant fantasy that can never happen.

A presentation of the horrors of a Trinity, let alone a Castle Bravo, or god forbid a Tsar Bomba, might be needed to remind the world just how scary these weapons are. Edit: And of course I dont mean on people.

rather than electronic surveillance equipment, like they were 40 years ago when I was flying in US planes doing the same thing off the Russian coast. In those days, Bears and Badgers both were being used for surveillance and flying off of the coast of Alaska almost daily.

I'll assume the Russian sub that went undetected in the Gulf last year was surveying the Marine life as well.

How do the Chinese really know that our Ohio/Virginia class subs are carrying nuclear warheads?

None of these games being played right now are being disguised as surveillance. You don't need to fly a plane near Guam to survey it anymore. It was a message, not an attack. But you never want to be caught with your pants down. I would bet my life those planes were armed to their capability and purpose.

Were you flying a B2 or a B52.

With brinksmanship between two powers with the ability to either intentionally or accidentally trigger and end to life as we know in within 45 minutes, I will always assume that both sides are always prepared.

Your experience flying makes your opinion no more qualified than mine on the subject. As they are obviously both opinions, I feel the facts that I am using to base mine on are a tad more solid.

There is nothing I can do about it, other than try to counter the apathy that modern Western society has toward nuclear weapons and the ease at which an accidental or intentional first strike or perceived counter-strike can happen.

I liken the videos of the Berlin wall coming down to Dubya landing on the aircraft carrier. Most people didn't believe the Bush dog and pony show, but unfortunately it seems many feel a symbolic wall being knocked over ended the constant state of readiness for full scale launches that multiple parties possess.

It happened on Feb 12th. The article makes it appear it happened within the last day or so.

Don't dare cut the defense budget or the commies will get us.

n/t