Russia, China Could Soon Outmatch U.S. in Combat Aviation

R-37M / Photo by Reuben F. Johnson

 

New Russian air-to-air missile has advantage in speed and reach

KIEV, Ukraine—Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that a new weapon is very near completion of its test validation trials and will soon be placed into service.

If reports of its operational performance are accurate, it will threaten the survivability of every U.S. combat aircraft currently in service—particularly the newest U.S. fighter, the Lockheed Martin F-35.

Unarmed Russian Air Force jet overflies the Pentagon, Capitol, CIA

(CNN) An unarmed Russian Air Force aircraft overflew the US Capitol, the Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency and Joint Base Andrews at low altitude on Wednesday as part of a longstanding treaty that allows the militaries of the United States and Russia to observe the other from the air, according to two people familiar with the flight.

The flight was part of the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows military aircraft from the United States and Russia and other nations to fly aerial observation flights to observe military sites of the 34 signatory nations.

Russia Keeps Provoking NATO Planes: SecAF

A Russian Su-27 fighter flies over the Kamchatka Peninsula. In April, a Su-27 intercepted an American reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea in a series of hostile fly-bys in 2016 alone, the Air Force’s top civilian said.

 

The Russian air force has not shown any good faith toward NATO aircraft policing Baltic airspace in recent months by conducting a flurry of unsafe maneuvers and flybys, the top civilian leader of the Air Force said Monday.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the German air force, which oversees the mission, reported “more than 30 scrambles between the end of August and the start of November this year, intercepting Russian aircraft flying near civilian air routes with their transponders turned off.”

Tensions Between US/NATO & Russia Are Flaring Dangerously

As if there weren’t enough crises to worry about in the world already, from shooting rampages to accelerating species loss, the US and NATO continue to ‘poke the bear’ and risk an outbreak of war with Russia.

I wish this were idle speculation. But if you haven’t been paying close attention, you’ll probably be shocked at just how much direct military and diplomatic provocation has been going on between NATO/US and Russia over the past several years — and in recent weeks, in particular.

Even more shocking is that no one in power can provide us with a compelling reason for exactly why these tensions are flaring. It seems that Russia’s main sin is in not entirely, completely and immediately giving the US/NATO anything and everything they request.

In other words, it’s imperial hubris and petulance that seems to be driving the ship of state. That’s a dangerous thing.

Russian Jet Threatened U.S. Recon Aircraft

Barrel rolls over plane in latest Baltic Sea provocation

A Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft on Thursday in the latest military provocation by Moscow over the Baltic Sea, the U.S. European Command said Saturday.

“On April 14, a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft flying a routine route in international airspace over the Baltic Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner,” said Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez.

“This intercept comes shortly after the unsafe Russian encounters with USS Donald Cook,” he added. “There have been repeated incidents over the last year where Russian military aircraft have come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns, and we are very concerned with any such behavior.”

Erdogan aims to derail Russia-NATO alliance

Lest we forget ISIS gets rockstar treatment at Turkish hospitals after crossing the border seeking to get treatment for war injuries.

 

LONDON – The fact is that the Russian plane, by Turkey’s own admission, was in Turkish airspace for precisely 17 seconds. That’s a little less time than it takes to read this paragraph aloud. The Turks shot it down anyway — and their allies publicly backed them, as loyal allies must.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg declared: “We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our NATO ally, Turkey.” President Barack Obama called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to assure him that the United States supported Turkey’s right to defend its sovereignty. But privately, they must have been cursing Erdogan. They know what he’s up to.

This is the first time in more than 50 years that a NATO plane has shot down a Russian plane, and it happened in very suspicious circumstances.

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.

Inside the Ring: Russian military flights over Iraq questioned

For more on Edward Snowden, his likely pre-scandal Russian spy links, American lives he puts in jeapardy and the havoc he’s wreaking on America’s national security, please see HERE. Thanks to him this is why the Russians can counter American moves in Europe and the Middle East before the moves are made.

 

Iraq’s government has told the United States that it will not permit Russian military forces to conduct air and missile strikes inside the country. But Baghdad is allowing Russian military aircraft to overfly its territory to resupply its forces, despite a request from the United States to deny the flights.

Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, disclosed during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday that the U.S. government asked the governments of Bulgaria and Iraq to close their airspace to Russian aircraft several weeks before Moscow’s Syria military intervention.

“Early signs of Russian intent”

One of the (many) problems is that America’s intelligence community has been intentionally rendered into an unintelligence community by the Obama administration.

Analysts whose internal reports tell the real story of what’s transpiring in the field are now having their reports heavily redacted, edited, polished up and portrayed as happy news for public consumption. This is why you hear America is “winning” the war against ISIS, even though America’s military leadership says otherwise. This has lead to rifts and even an open revolt within the unintelligence community.

If you diminish the quality of your intelligence community, it leads to failures and blunders such as the one this article points out. All the signs were there, the threats were already known and correctly assessed, but a blind eye was turned at the top of the hierarchy.

 

That’s the front page headline of today’s Washington Post (paper edition). The story is about signs in August that Putin was mobilizing for a military offensive in Syria. Despite these signs, the Obama administration was “caught flat-footed” when the Russian offensive materialized two months later.

In a larger sense, “Russian intent” has long been clear. Putin has said he consider the fall of Soviet power a geopolitical catastrophe. He wants to restore Russian influence to the maximum extent feasible.

Russian spies stealing secrets of Britain’s NUCLEAR submarines…making them USELESS

Vessels deployed by the “sabre-rattling” Kremlin are patrolling close to naval bases in Scotland – home to the Trident weapons system – in a bid to poach the ‘acoustic signature’ of British submarines.

If successful, it would render much of Britain’s clandestine naval fleet effectively useless, as Vladimir Putin’s military would be able to trace the precise location of our supposedly ‘stealth’ submarines – and SINK them.

Putin’s act of WAR? Russian air strikes in Syria target British-backed rebels

RUSSIAN warplanes launching air strikes in Syria have bombed rebel groups backed by the West rather than Islamic State (ISIS) militants.

Moscow launched a bombing campaign on ISIS-held territory in Syria after the Russian parliament gave the green light to strikes with the aim of supporting President Bashar al-Assad.

The action was said to be focused on degrading ISIS operations in the country.

But the US and rebels on the ground suggested Russian aircraft were bombing fighters backed by Western powers.

Analyst: Russian MiG-29 and Su-27 Top American F-35

 

Can Soviet-era fighter jets like the one above, the twin-engine MiG-29 Fulcrum, or the bigger one below, the Su-27 Flanker, outperform the newest American design, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter?

Yes, according to Bill French, a policy analyst with the National Security Network, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank favors progressive defense policies. He’s the author of a report released Tuesday by the organization. It’s titled, “Thunder without Lightning: The High Costs and Limited Benefits of the F-35 Program,” a pun on the jet’s official name, Lightning II.

Two Russian military aircraft intercepted by RAF Typhoons over the Baltic Sea

Two Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea without sharing a flight plan have been intercepted and shadowed by RAF Tycoons. [sic]

The Typhoons were scrambled yesterday from the Amari Air base in Estonia after the Russian aircraft approached Baltic airspace.

Russian Jet Again Harasses U.S. Reconnaissance Plane

‘Unsafe’ aerial intercept of RC-135 over Baltic Sea

A Russian fighter jet conducted a dangerous aerial intercept of a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft two weeks ago over the Baltic Sea in the latest sign of heightened military tensions between Moscow and Washington.

“The nature of the intercept was unsafe,” said a senior defense official familiar with details of the encounter.

However, it is unclear whether the May 30 incident between the RC-135 reconnaissance jet and a Russian Su-27 interceptor that flew too close was intentional or due to the pilot’s lack of flying experience, the official said.

Russian military increases capabilities, overflights near Alaska airspace

Russian military flights outside Russian airspace have reached levels not seen since the Cold War, the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Most concerning to NORAD officials is not the number of flights into U.S. and allies’ Air Defense Identification Zones but the increasing capabilities of the Russian aircraft and pilots, Adm. William Gortney said.