Russian aircraft approach USS Ronald Reagan, prompting US fighter jet scramble

Another day, another Russian provocation. At least this time they were polite enough not to shut off the carrier like they did the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea — which you do not hear about in this article.

 

The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and South Korean navy ships steam in formation during an exercise Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, in international waters to the east of the Korean Peninsula. Two Russian aircraft flew within one nautical mile at a height of 500 feet, prompting the carrier to launch four fighter jets in response. The Russian aircraft left without further incident. Nathan Burke/U.S. Navy

 

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The USS Ronald Reagan scrambled its fighter jets earlier this week after two Russian naval reconnaissance aircraft flew within one nautical mile of the U.S. aircraft carrier as it sailed in international waters east of the Korean Peninsula, according to 7th Fleet officials.

In the latest in a series of incidents involving Russian aircraft, two Tupolev Tu-142 Bear aircraft flew as low as 500 feet Tuesday morning near the Reagan, which has been conducting scheduled maneuvers with South Korean navy ships. Four F/A-18 Super Hornets took off from the Reagan’s flight deck in response to the Russian advance, 7th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Lauren Cole said Thursday.

Japan protests after ‘Russian’ plane enters airspace

Tokyo has lodged a protest with Moscow after it scrambled four fighter jets to intercept a foreign aircraft — believed to be Russian — which briefly violated its airspace, government officials said Wednesday.

The foreign ministry made the protest shortly after the plane entered Japanese airspace off the coast of the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, near a disputed island chain, Tuesday afternoon.

Russian Bombers Fly Within 50 Miles of California Coast

People will easily dismiss the danger in this. What they will typically say is that these bombers are old and outdated. However, what they’re missing is the fact that they’re within striking range. They don’t have to be over the continental United States or even 50 miles from it. The danger lies within the nuclear-armed missiles they carry that have the reach and speed to hit multiple targets within 2 – 5 minutes across the western part of the US in this case. Imagine 20 military bases being knocked out within 30 minutes time.

Add to the fact that there is no missile defense on the west coast and Alaska’s missile defense won’t help at all when the enemies are already past their enemy’s defensive lines. Russia is also using outdated bombers for dry runs. Who knows what they have behind closed doors in regards to modern strategic bombers that might be able to fly over any part of the entire American homeland and strike.

 

U.S. F-22, F-15 jets intercept four Bear H bombers near Alaska, Northern California

Four Russian strategic bombers triggered U.S. air defense systems while conducting practice bombing runs near Alaska this week, with two of the Tu-95 Bear H aircraft coming within 50 miles of the California coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) confirmed Wednesday.

“The last time we saw anything similar was two years ago on the Fourth of July,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Norad spokesman, told the Free Beacon.

Davis said the latest Bear H incursions began Monday around 4:30 p.m. Pacific time when radar detected the four turbo-prop powered bombers approaching the U.S. air defense zone near the far western Aleutian Islands.

Russia Joins China in Provoking U.S. Ally

As predicted in a previous post, the Soviets are testing the Japanese resolve. Consider it an unofficial Shanghai Cooperation Organization military operation. Taking it one step further, in the bigger scheme of things, the aim is two-fold:

1) To sow mistrust between Japan and the United States, whereas America will be portrayed as an ‘unreliable’ partner with no backbone, means or will to help. The military is rapidly disintegrating and can’t even afford to fuel it’s navy.

2) To have Japan gravitate towards an Asian union or eventually be under the SCO protectorate. With a nearly crippled US focusing mainly on a Middle East trap, Japan on its own would surely want to join Russia and China rather than go against it.

Although the Russian jets left Japan’s airspace without incident after a little over a minute, the incursion was significant in both its location and its timing. It happened near territory that has been disputed by Moscow and Tokyo since the end of World War II, when Russia took it from Japan. Japan calls the islands the Northern Territories and Russia calls them the Kurils. The incident occurred on Japan’s “Northern Territories Day,” when Japanese nationals traditionally rally to call for Tokyo to wrest the islands from Russian control.

This provocative Russian incursion into Japanese airspace follows a string of breaches by Chinese forces into separate territories that both Tokyo and Washington recognize as being administered by Japan. Defense and security agreements between the U.S. and Japan would require Washington to back Tokyo in the event of a military confrontation.