The latest close encounter between NATO and Russian planes over the Baltic Sea was different.
Early morning on Mar. 24, NATO and Swedish QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) interceptors were scrambled to identify and shadow a formation of two Russian Air Force Tu-22M Backfire bombers escorted by two Su-27 Flanker aircraft.As usual, the aircraft were flying with no FPL, no transponder, in international airspace. But, unlike all the previous events the leading Tu-22M bomber was flying at supersonic speed!
As a consequence of the high-speed of the Russian planes, the Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon jets, providing BAP (Baltic Air Patrol) duties from Siauliau airbase, Lithuania, had to perform a supersonic run to intercept and escort the Tu-22s and accompanying Su-27s.
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I don't suppose it would occure to anyone to just accept that the cold war is over and that Russian Bombers don't need to be intercepted. Just let them fly wherever and however they want and complain about it in the UN. If they do drop a bomb, then the gloves come off. It's not like the few intercepters they have available could have stopped them if their real intent was war.
ReplyDeleteAnd if they really want to show Russia who's boss, they can stop buying Russian Natural Gas.
The real downside of this is that the Russians are training and learing the NATO intercept capability. NATO would have been better off keeping their planes grounded and not revealing their responsiveness.
Some good points again.
DeletePutin is playing chess, while NATO is playing checkers.
ReplyDeleteYes, he checkmated Obama in a few moves and is now seeking a more worthy opponent which shouldn't be difficult. :)
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