Russian strategic bombers near Canada practice cruise missile strikes on US

Two Russian strategic bombers conducted practice cruise missile attacks on the United States during a training mission last week that defense officials say appeared timed to the NATO summit in Wales.

The Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were tracked flying a route across the northern Atlantic near Iceland, Greenland, and Canada’s northeast.

Pretty standard stuff really...

Disclosure of the nuclear bombing practice comes as a Russian general last week called for Moscow to change its doctrine to include preemptive nuclear strikes on the United States and NATO.

Gen. Yuri Yakubov, a senior Defense Ministry official, was quoted by the state-run Interfax news agency as saying that Russia’s 2010 military doctrine should be revised to identify the United States and the NATO alliance as enemies, and clearly outline the conditions for a preemptive nuclear strike against them.

Yakubov said among other needed doctrinal changes, “it is necessary to hash out the conditions under which Russia could carry out a preemptive strike with the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces”—Moscow’s nuclear forces.

This a little more "in your face", and a dangerous thing to be espousing in a minder-approved article. Let's not forget that Putin himself last week said that the West should keep in mind that Russia is a powerful...and nuclear armed...country.

We can say that this is just more cold war like sabre rattling, for Russian nationalist consumption - except for the fact that Russia is actually currently actively engaged in nibbling away on the territory of its neighbours (Ukraine most energetically at the moment).

Seems to me that what Russia is really saying is that they are only getting warmed up when it comes to their aims to recover their past USSR glory days - and that NATO and the US should be careful not to stand in their way, lest they just decide to pre-emptively sucker nuke us.

www.foxnews.com...

a reply to: mobiusmale

Why does all this sound familiar? Oh yeah. 1955 to 1990 or there abouts.
I personally just cannot get strung out over this any longer.

a reply to: mobiusmale

well if you keep pushing , you will get pushed back .

America you are not the world police , you are the world bully boys , and for a change you are picking on a country that can and will fight back .

I know that we here on ATS have a tendency to yawn about this sort of thing, we've seen it a thousand times before.

But it's starting to seem more surreal.

Russia is beginning to appear to be a larger foe to us than I previously thought, and I'm legitimately watching them with a wary eye.

I know we say it's all talk, but sooner or later ... something is bound to give.

I, for one, would rather be prepared.

a reply to: mobiusmale

This world is suffering from bully-mia.

originally posted by: tom.farnhill
a reply to: mobiusmale

well if you keep pushing , you will get pushed back .

America you are not the world police , you are the world bully boys , and for a change you are picking on a country that can and will fight back .

Wow? America is "picking" on Russia? Really?
Last time I checked it was Russia who INVADED Ukraine, a sovereign nation.
What do you expect? US and the rest saying it's "cool"?

Tired of that "America is the booh-man" crap. It's Putin who lives 70 years in the past with his cold-war crap and "nuclear nation" rehtoric. That guy needs a wake-up call. And so do "overly-proud" Russians who back Putin and his outdated way of politics.

a reply to: gatorboi117

This IS nothing. They used to do this and worse on a daily basis for decades.

a reply to: Zaphod58

This explains it all. I'm sorry. But if this was for real, the air force would rip them a knew behind and then some.

originally posted by: TerryMcGuire
a reply to: mobiusmale

Why does all this sound familiar? Oh yeah. 1955 to 1990 or there abouts.
I personally just cannot get strung out over this any longer.

Yep. Pretty much everyday for 40 or so years. I'm sure our guys will start doing cold runs on a regular basis again soon, too. If we haven't already. It was way scarier back then. This is mostly just chest thumping. Back then on a polar flight it was, "am I going to get the message recalling us?"

a reply to: EternalSolace

If there was a real threat, they would be met with large numbers of fighters, and there would be a big furball.

The US used to do the same thing, and still baits SAM sites using electronic surveillance aircraft. Its all just a game at this point. If the bombers start flying with real missiles hanging from the wings, or start pointing the tail guns in the direction of the intercepting aircraft, I'll get nervous. Until then, its the same old thing.

a reply to: _Del_

We launched our Alert EC with valid codes one time. Talk about scary, to see that go wheels up.

Ah, the good old days. Now all we have to do is get their hockey players on the ice and really get it revved up.

Right now, I wouldn't worry too much about this. It seems more like a middle school provocation than a real threat. It could escalate to something more serious, but... at the moment, I'm getting a "pissing contest" feeling from all of this.

I could be completely wrong, though.

a reply to: intrepid

At least during the Cold War you knew where things stood, both in the world, and on the ice.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: _Del_

We launched our Alert EC with valid codes one time. Talk about scary, to see that go wheels up.

***KLAXON! KLAXON! KLAXON!***

Beat feet to the aircraft and hope the secret message matched the secret decoding ring, err, card, saying it was just an exercise, or maybe to keep you on your toes, you got to take off and really wonder if the balloon went up somewhere or if you'd get a recall message

a reply to: _Del_

They said turning left onto the Active, instead of right back to parking was the hardest and scariest thing they ever did. Our scrambles were all out Tango, turn right, in Victor and back to parking.

originally posted by: tom.farnhill
a reply to: mobiusmale

well if you keep pushing , you will get pushed back .

America you are not the world police , you are the world bully boys , and for a change you are picking on a country that can and will fight back .

Russia spends more time pushing around its nieghbors like Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and harassing Sweden and Finland. I suppose Russia is just pushing back on them? And considering how much more powerful the US is than Russia, it is very clear that if the US was to bully Russia some obsolete prop job bombers would hardly be considered a push back. I mean it is kind of pathetic really.

a reply to: deckdel

This world is suffering from bully-mia.

Makes me sick!!!

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: _Del_

We launched our Alert EC with valid codes one time. Talk about scary, to see that go wheels up.

Say Zap what does that mean.
I am not up to date on those acronyms.

a reply to: grayghost

Looking Glass was the EC-135 that carried the Battle Staff on board to help prosecute a war if it happened.

Valid codes means that it was a real no # launch order, meaning birds were going to fly.

Wheels up means retracting the landing gear after take off.

So the easier translation was that they were ordered to take off because Norad thought Russian missiles were inbound.