Russian Bombers Buzz U.S. Carrier
American fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers over the weekend, one of which buzzed a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, according to the Associated Press. The confrontation occurred in the western Pacific.
An anonymous U.S. military official provided AP with details of the incident, which is reportedly classified as secret. According to the source, one Russian Tu-95 bomber circled the nuclear-powered uss Nimitz aircraft carrier while the second crossed directly overhead at 2,000 feet, a low altitude, and then did so a second time.
The U.S. Navy, which had been tracking a total of four bombers launched from Ukrainka in the middle of the night, launched four f/a-18 fighters when the bombers came within 500 miles. The fighters intercepted the Russian planes 50 miles from the carrier. The source said that two American fighters followed the bomber on its runs at the Nimitz, and at least one trailed the second bomber. One of the other Tu-95s violated Japanese air space in a separate incident.
The Nimitz, powered by two nuclear reactors, displaces 95,000 tons, is 23 stories tall from keel to mast, and its 4.5-acre flight deck is 1,092 feet long. It carries up to 6,000 people.
Russian Tupolev 95 strategic long-range bombers have jet-level performance, with four turboprop engines driving 18-foot propellers mounted on a 164-foot wingspan. They can carry up to 20 tons of ordnance, including free-fall bombs, missiles or cruise missiles.
Washington has apparently not yet filed a diplomatic protest over the incident.
The Soviet Air Force, and Tu-95 bombers in particular, regularly tested America’s air defenses during the Cold War. Tu-95s have also been active more recently, with a number of fly-bys and fly-overs occurring since 2000. The last time a Tupolev flew over an American carrier was in January 2004 with the uss Kitty Hawk.
AP reports that relations between Moscow and Washington are at a Cold War low, largely over U.S. plans to install a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, “We are being forced to take retaliatory steps,” and has also said a new arms race is under way.
Watch Moscow continue to test its enemies as it rises to become a global power once again. For more on Russia’s future, read Russia and China in Prophecy.