By now it’s old news that Russia is sending its long-ranger bombers on intimidating Cold War-style patrols near U.S. and allied forces. See below:
“Russia Blitzes Britain”
“Russian Revival, Part One”
“Russian Revival, Part Two”
But what were the bombers aiming for? In one case, they were targeting one of the biggest gatherings of U.S. naval power in recent history: three carriers, 27 other warships and 300 aircraft playing war near Guam for eight days. The Navy called it “Exercise Valiant Shield,” and according to Lieutenant Commander John Filostrat, the point was “to ensure regional security and stability, to show that the Asia-Pacific region is important — probably more so now than it’s ever been.”
Why so important? Chokepoints in the oil trade, Filostrat says:
There are 52 million square miles of water surrounding Asia alone, and they are filled with navigational chokepoints. More than half of Asia’s oil is imported from the Middle East and must pass through the Straits of Malacca. Keeping that open is important.
Now imagine the Russian perspective. The U.S. is leading an international occupation in Afghanistan, on the doorstep of the former Soviet empire, while also stoking conflict in the Middle East that benefits nobody but religious extremists (plus maybe the Kurds) and might even be contributing to Islamic resistance in Chechnya. Now, on top of everything, suddenly there are three aircraft carriers throwing their weight around in the middle of the Pacific near all these critical nodes in oil networks. You’re a major energy exporter, so you send a couple Bear bombers to poke around and to show the U.S. Navy that you’re not just going to roll over when your interests are threatened.
Considering Russia’s accelerating slide into fascism, at the end of the day I’m still siding with the ol’ U.S. of A. But come on. Three U.S. carriers and 300 airplanes versus a couple Russian bombers? Who’s really the bully here?
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The timing of the “Blitz on Britain” is interesting. We have just had the Typhoon put on operational service. The MOD released a statement yesterday showing a Typhoon intercepting a Bear-H. Perhaps the Russian’s are trying to grab a radar profile of other Elint??
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/TyphoonLaunchesOperationallyForTheFirstTime.htm
[...] Yes, we could talk about the Cold War when Russia tries buzzing Scotland with a T-95MS, or we could discuss how those planes are so dilapidated they’re more of a danger to their crews than to the UK. Maybe, as David Axe suggests, these are reactionary patrols… but I wouldn’t say so, except for the single Guam incident. Russia has been trying to fly its birds like this since at least 1999; they just only now have the money to maintain them, sort of. [...]