-Caveat Lector-
US & Canadian Jet Fighters Move To Counter Probes By Russian
Bombers
12-1-00
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US and Canadian fighter aircraft moved to
forward bases Thursday to counter expected probes of North
American air defenses by Russian strategic bombers that have
deployed recently to bases in eastern Siberia, US and Canadian
military officials said.
Five Russian TU-95 Bear bombers have been detected at two
Siberian bases in apparent preparation for missions to probe US
air defenses around Alaska, the Pentagon said Thursday.
"We would anticipate that in the next few days they might fly one
or several of these planes up through the Bering Straits and
close to Alaska," Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said.
US F-15 Eagles and Canadian CF-18 Hornets were deployed to
forward operating locations in Alaska and Canada to counter the
Russian move, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace
Defense (NORAD) Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado
told AFP.
Also being moved up were AWACS radar surveillance aircraft and
air refueling tankers, said Major Jamie Robertson, the NORAD
spokesman.
"The fighters are in place, and some of the tankers and air
surveillance
aircraft are moving up," said Robertson, a Canadian.
He said it was the first time in over a year that US and Canadian
fighters have moved to forward locations in response to Russian
moves.
"In terms of having to deploy in response to long range Russian
aviation
activity, that something that's fairly rare these days," he said.
"I think '93 was the last time we had an intercept of a Russian
aircraft
approaching North America. But it was fairly common during the
Cold War," he said.
The US and Canadian response to the Bears comes in the wake of
Russian boasts earlier this month that its warplanes buzzed the
aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the Sea of Japan on October 17
and November 9.
The Russian SU-24 reconnaissance planes and SU-27 interceptors
flew close enough to the USS Kitty Hawk in the Sea of Japan to
take photographs of the carrier,
Russian air force chief General Anatoly Kornukov told the
Interfax news agency that the aircraft's approach came as "an
absolute surprise" to the Kitty Hawk, which didn't raise their
fighters into the air until the second flight.
Bacon said there "may have been a slight delay" in the scrambling
of interceptors in the first incident.
The Kitty Hawk was refueling at the time and not going fast
enough to launch its planes, he said. "So they had to wait in
order for the carrier to accelerate before they could launch the
planes. The second time the planes were launched at the
appropriate time," he said.
But he said the approach of the Russian planes was detected by
radar well in advance in both cases, and that they were followed
by US fighters.
"In neither case did the Navy feel that its operations had been
compromised in any way. In neither case did it feel that any
protest was warranted, and, therefore, no protest was made to the
Russians," Bacon said.
Russian bombers have probed US or NATO air defenses at least
three times
over the past year, most recently in March when they approached
Alaskan air space only to turn away before reaching a 200
mile-buffer zone around North America, officials said.
"The last actual time we deployed fighters was in September '99
when there was a Russian Bear bomber that approached the US North
America Air Defense Identification Zone," said Robertson. "Once
we sent fighters up, the aircraft turned back."
In June, 1999, US fighters at Keflavik Air Base in Iceland
scrambled to turn away two Bears.
That incident attracted attention because it came at a time of
tension with Russia over the NATO air war in Kosovo, and the
eastward expansion of the Atlantic alliance.
"We regard the Cold War as being over," Bacon said. "And although
we clearly monitor ships and airplanes, as I think my
presentation proves -- we've monitored the movement of these
Bears -- we keep an eye on what the Russians are up to. But we
are well-trained and we're ready to deal with these episodes."
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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