Its a bird, its a plane, its a... BEAR

bulldogg

Milforum's Bouncer
MOSCOW, September 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russian long-range Tu-95MS Bear-H strategic bombers will begin patrolling the remote areas on September 6, Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky, an Air Force spokesman, said Wednesday.

Moscow announced in mid-August that strategic patrol flights had been resumed and would continue on a permanent basis, with patrol areas including commercial shipping and economic production zones.

President Vladimir Putin announced the resumption of patrol flights August 17, and said that although the country halted long-distance strategic patrol flights to remote regions in 1992, other nations continued the practice, creating certain problems for Russian national security.

Washington played down the significance of Russian strategic bomber flights.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "That's a decision for them to take... If Russia feels as though they want to take some of these old aircraft out of mothballs and get them flying again, that's their decision."
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070905/76774553.html


MOSCOW, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - Two Russian strategic Tu-95MS Bear-H bombers carried out a flight along the coasts of Alaska and Canada during recent command and post exercises, the Russian Air Force announced Thursday.

"Each Tu-95 plane took about 30 tons of fuel on board, for the first time since the Soviet era. Their average flight duration was about 17 hours, during which the planes covered a distance of over 13,000 km [8,000 miles]," said Alexander Drobyshevsky, an aide to the Air Force commander.

According to the Air Force, the bombers were refueled in the air by Il-78 Midas tankers.

Drobyshevsky also said another pair of Tu-95MS flew around Greenland into the eastern Atlantic, a flight that took about 12 hours.

President Vladimir Putin announced the resumption of strategic patrol flights on August 17, saying that although the country halted long-distance strategic flights to remote regions in 1992, other nations had continued the practice, compromising Russian national security.

The latest flights were in line with an air patrolling plan, and the planes were accompanied by NATO fighters.

According to various sources, the Russian Air Force currently deploys 141 Tu-22M3 bombers, 40 Tu-95MS bombers, and 14 Tu-160 planes.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070920/80150569.html
 
What benefit are they actually getting out of this other than showing that they can do it?

A bit of pointless sabre rattling, they can't even pay their public servants, school teachers or coal miners, so I can't see them as a viable long term military threat.
 
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