The Bear Claws Back

[Kage]

Vladimir Putin's Russia is on the prowl, forging strategic alliances and building its military on a scale not seen since the Cold War. Once again, there's a bear in the woods.

The U.S. Air Force has denied Moscow's boast that a Russian strategic bomber actually flew over or even got close to the U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam. But a Pentagon spokesman confirmed the sortie.

It seems that Russia's strategic bombers have returned to their Cold War practice of flying long-haul missions to areas patrolled by the U.S. and NATO. But judging from its furious military program, this was no mere exercise in nostalgia.

Last week, Major-General Pavel Androsov, commander of long-range aviation for the Russian Air Force, announced at a press conference that two turboprop TU95-Ms bombers from a base near Blagoveshchensk in the Far East made a 13-hour round-trip flight to the vicinity of Guam and "exchanged smiles" with U.S. pilots sent up to intercept it.


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[Ford Freak]

I wonder roaches will be the only things living by the 22nd century.

[k0NG0]

Methinks the whole claiming of the north pole seabed as Russian ground is connected to this. The oil. A large military force uses perverse amounts of petroleum-based products. Putin is probably less interested in relying on allies in western Asia these days for oil, what with rumblings of invading Iran and such. And the amount found in Sibiria isn't endless, and China could possibly make attempts at grabbing that if push should come to shove.

It's mildly terrifying. And the Swedish defense, which up until 10-15 years ago was an invasion defense against the Soviet union, is now two guys with a shovel digging a latrine yet it still costs 4bn SEK a year. Fun! (It's almost entirely academic, of course, a huge army would have a field day against a small army such as this. We'd be looking at a guerrilla type situation, like Norway during WWII or the Mujaheddeen in Afghanistan. Wear 'em down.)