http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=6202061&subject=general&action=article

if the City that is financial district in London will be bombed, all of stock prices in the World will have a great fall!

Thats interesting. Who knows what the Russians are doing, we sure don't. They are however getting mad about us wanting to set up missile defense shields in eastern Europe though.

My guess would be that they were engaged in training. The specific location of the training is designed to pressure England in a time when diplomatic relations are tense.

There is one thing i love about such things: interceptor pilots make very beautiful photos of bombers escorted by american fighters..
Like this one:

http://www.murdoconline.net/pics/tomandbear-thumb.jpg

On topic: seems strange that after years and years of such flights, nowadays every case becomes a sensation. Finally, these were electronic intelligence planes, not nuclear bombers))

When I was a kid we'd always see Russian Bears flying high in the sky - sounds like the Cold war is on its way back!

In the early 1960's, I was stationed at a top-secret comm installation (click thumbnails for a birdseye view) where our mission was to monitor the Soviet air force and navy activities in Murmansk and Arkangel, the Soviet Northern fleet and air force. (the same place the imaginary Red october sailed from).

We were a team, specifically trained to intercept the Russian morse code from those stations, along with their teletype and their voice transmissions. We also had crypto-analysis and direction-finding capabilities and we reported directly to the pentagon and on occassion to the white house. Yes, we actually had a red phone -- LOL.

We knew every move they were going to make. We knew where every one of those TU-95 Bears were at every moment as well as the surface ships and subs. In all fairness, the soviets did the same to us. That was the nature of the cold war.

Anyway, they were flying TU-95's back then, and what amazes me is they still fly them today.

Now, 45 years later, all that stuff is declassified and gone as is the cold war.

The good old days.

One more thing ... no need to thank me for spending over a year in the biggest shithole of a place god ever put on the planet so that your mommies and daddies could sleep with the secure feeling of knowing the big red menace was being watched and controlled.

This is a side of our military few people see, even those actively serving.

http://images6.theimagehosting.com/ops1.th.jpg (http://server6.theimagehosting.com/image.php?img=ops1.jpg)

http://images6.theimagehosting.com/ops2.th.jpg (http://server6.theimagehosting.com/image.php?img=ops2.jpg)

http://images6.theimagehosting.com/ops3.th.jpg (http://server6.theimagehosting.com/image.php?img=ops3.jpg)

Hey, I have a red phone ;)

Hey, I have a red phone ;)
is it rotary dial too?

Anyway, they were flying TU-95's back then, and what amazes me is they still fly them today.

Very interesting story Lungdop.
By the way, B52 is used one year longer than Tu-95. :)
Both have large modernization potenial.. still to say honestly i think B52 looks more.. handsome than Bear.. a bit :)

Where was that station?))

is it rotary dial too?

Naw, its touch tone, lol

When I was a kid we'd always see Russian Bears flying high in the sky - sounds like the Cold war is on its way back!

I'm curious Drew. How did you know they were Russian planes?

It seems odd to me that the Brits would have allowed them to overfly British airspace.

Both have large modernization potenial.. still to say honestly i think B52 looks more.. handsome than Bear.. a bit :)


I'd have to agree, but oddly enough, the B-52 is known as a "BUFF"...it means Big Ugly Fat F**Ker...neither plane is very pretty IMO.

Very interesting story Lungdop.
By the way, B52 is used one year longer than Tu-95. :)
Both have large modernization potenial.. still to say honestly i think B52 looks more.. handsome than Bear.. a bit :)

Where was that station?))

I knew the B52 had been around a while but didn't realize it has out-lived the Bear. Thanks for that bit of information -- good bar bet.

I'm not a big believer in modernization programs. I've seen too many fail (lack of budget, difficulties in integration and retrofitting et al). Most recently I worked on the F-22 modernization (chrissakes, it's only a few years old) and that program went tits-up last year. Hundreds of millions wasted.

The installation in my pics was in Hafnir, Iceland. It was torn down in 1982 (so I was told) and a new installation was built in a different location. For the military buffs, the old station had U-Adcock, 8-element antanna arrays (AN/GRD-6) and the new station was upgraded to Wullenweber antennas (AN/FRD-9).

I knew the B52 had been around a while but didn't realize it has out-lived the Bear. Thanks for that bit of information -- good bar bet.

I'm not a big believer in modernization programs. I've seen too many fail (lack of budget, difficulties in integration and retrofitting et al). Most recently I worked on the F-22 modernization (chrissakes, it's only a few years old) and that program went tits-up last year. Hundreds of millions wasted.

The installation in my pics was in Hafnir, Iceland. It was torn down in 1982 (so I was told) and a new installation was built in a different location. For the military buffs, the old station had U-Adcock, 8-element antanna arrays (AN/GRD-6) and the new station was upgraded to Wullenweber antennas (AN/FRD-9).
Yep, here is the same problem. Once they started a joint russian-indian project of all new 5'th gen fighter (cause in that time Russia had absolutely no money to make this alone), spent some 7 or 8 years, some millions and closed everything, and then started from the very beginning.
Sometimes i think that strategic bombers have no future with modern local conflicts. Maybe some more Litvinenko's have to be killed so that we launch all new projects?? :D

I've heard about Hafnir name several times, as far as i know it was somewhat part of Keflavik base, wasn't it?

Yep, here is the same problem. Once they started a joint russian-indian project of all new 5'th gen fighter (cause in that time Russia had absolutely no money to make this alone), spent some 7 or 8 years, some millions and closed everything, and then started from the very beginning.
Sometimes i think that strategic bombers have no future with modern local conflicts. Maybe some more Litvinenko's have to be killed so that we launch all new projects?? :D

I've heard about Hafnir name several times, as far as i know it was somewhat part of Keflavik base, wasn't it?

I think a smart future military path is the one Putin is taking where he understands that if you don't plan on attacking another country, you really don't need a gigantic offensive military. On the other hand, you do need to have the capability to defend yourself in case you are attacked, and in particular, pre-emptively attacked. Bring anyone to mind?

I look at some of the Russian toys ... particularily their air defenses and anti-ship technology ... S-300, Pechora-2A, Buk-M1, Tor-M1 ground-to-air, Sunburn (Moskit) missle and the newest which IIRC is the S-400 missile systems. To round things out, toss in the Sukhoi Flankers for one of the most sophisticated airplanes ever built (look up/down radar, rear radar, firing missiles from behind - WTF ??? now you're talking).

I'm holding out hopes the U.S. eventually sees the benefit of having a leaner, meaner, better equipped military by following the Russian model or something similar. But being a realist, it's more likely we will continue to build multi-billion dollar aircraft carriers and continue pre-emtively attacking any country that has oil or dares drift away from trading in U.S. dollars.

And please, no more Litvinenkos. Those stories get all the TV coverage and then I miss the really importand news ... like missing blonds, sharkbites, politicians haircuts, weed-whacking in Crawford ...

War games are a common response to political strife between countries, but they are usually announced through some channels.

Aerial Reconnaissance is probably my guess. I'm sure the bombers were meant to be seen.

On the other hand, you do need to have the capability to defend yourself in case you are attacked, and in particular, pre-emptively attacked. Bring anyone to mind?

We must have a capability to defend ourselves from anything.
War, joblessness and poverty and debt, starvation, illness, ignorance, alcohol.

We must have a capability to defend ourselves from anything.
War, joblessness and poverty and debt, starvation, illness, ignorance, alcohol.


Isn't it amazing that on some days you syntax is nearly perfect, on others you can't put two words together.

Dude's from Japan, give him a little credit.