Futuredefencetf Discussion Threads

[waldron] 06/9/2007 14:48

U.K., Norway Send Jets to Intercept Russian Aircraft (Update1)

By Robin Stringer and Sebastian Alison

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Four U.K. Royal Air Force Tornados were launched to intercept eight Russian strategic bombers, the British Ministry of Defence said. Two aircraft from the Norwegian air force also trailed Russia's planes.

The RAF Tornado F3 jet fighters were scrambled early today to intercept the Soviet-era Russian bombers ``which had not entered U.K. airspace,'' the ministry said in an e-mailed statement. The ministry didn't elaborate on how close the RAF aircraft got to the Russian planes.

Jon Inge Oegland, a Royal Norwegian Air Force Wing Commander based at Stavanger, said in a telephone interview the Russian aircraft ``flew in early today at six in the morning and were met by two Norwegian fighter planes, who trailed them for a while.'' He didn't specify exactly where the Russian bombers were.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 17 ordered the resumption of regular flights by strategic bombers, which were halted in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. The same day, Royal Air Force fighter jets were sent to shadow two Russian bombers heading toward British air space over the north Atlantic.

Russian Air Force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky told the Interfax news agency today that ``about 20 NATO fighter jets,'' including F-16s and Tornados, had accompanied the Russian bombers. ``There were no excesses by the foreign aircraft,'' it cited him as saying.

`International Rules'

The Russian Ministry of Defense said today the aircraft were conducting a routine exercise and all flights were carried out ``in accordance with international rules.'' Some ``14 Tu-95 MS aircraft yesterday evening started planned air patrols,'' over the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Northern Arctic Oceans, the ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

Oegland downplayed the event. ``It wasn't dramatic,'' he said. ``We wouldn't call it alarming.''

Revenue from high natural energy prices is helping Russia reassert its global position and military power, with new defense spending including upgrades to its air force and the expansion of its navy. It has protested U.S. plans to deploy an anti-missile defense system in eastern Europe.

``The aircraft are flying over neutral waters, not coming close to the airspace of foreign states. Six Tu-95 MS aircraft have already landed at their bases, eight are still in the air,'' the Russian ministry said.

``Almost all are accompanied by NATO fighter jets.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Robin Stringer in London at [e-mail] ; Sebastian Alison in Moscow at [e-mail] .

Last Updated: September 6, 2007 10:06 EDT

[waldron] 23/8/2007 06:04

Russia tells West bomber flights are not a return to Cold War
Date : 23/08/2007 @ 07:02
Source : TFN


Russia tells West bomber flights are not a return to Cold War


MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russia's deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov
said his country's return to the Soviet-era practice of sending strategic
bombers on long-range flights is not a return to the Cold War, news agency
ITAR-TASS reported.
"This isn't connected with thinking in terms of blocs or conflicts, let
along a return to the Cold War," Ivanov said during a visit to Kemerovo in
southern Siberia.
"This is an ordinary working situation. There are no conflicts. We are
flying by the same transparent, understandable rules as our American partners."
President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Russia was resuming
regular bomber flights far beyond its borders, a practice that had stopped in
1992 as Russia's military crumbled following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Russian bombers had been making increasingly frequent flights toward US
territory in the lead-up to Putin's announcement, while Britain and Norway had
repeatedly scrambled jets to intercept Russian planes near their airspace.
Ivanov said Russia had resumed the bomber flights "so Russian pilots can
acquire professional experience... There is nothing at all to worry about."
[e-mail]
afp/lce

[barn owl] 12/8/2007 16:23

Buy - while the cannons are thundering!

Sell - while the violins are playing!

Good luck all.

[iomhere] 12/8/2007 14:39

NATO is simply a means to profit from the manufacture of arms and defence equipment at the expense of the taxpayer.

[waldron] 12/8/2007 14:23

cheers loverat

[loverat] 12/8/2007 11:15

Well, my opinion is that we have to be more understanding of Russia's
position. Germany was humiliated after WW1 and this directly led to
WW11 and subsquently the Cold War.

Russia has been the loser of the Cold War. Obviously many changes needed
to be made in order to give nation states their full independence (i.e
Poland and the Czech's.)

Instead of that we now have over 20 new independent nations many of which
were part of the former USSR.

We should not encourage a state of paranoia within Russia by acting hastily
by encouraging ex Soviet nations to join NATO. We should be trying to build
up a trust gradually between all parties concerned to ensure that there is no reason for Russia to be fearful.

Under George Bush this has been difficult. Once he is gone we should re-focus
our efforts.

[waldron] 12/8/2007 10:56

Russia unveils air defence plan
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced what he called a vast programme to upgrade the country's missile defence system.
Visiting a new radar early-warning station near St Petersburg, Mr Putin said it was the first step in a major construction project lasting till 2015.

Russia has grave concerns about plans to deploy parts of a new US missile defence system in Eastern Europe.

Mr Putin has warned that Russia will take measures to counter the plan.

The US insists its programme is aimed to deal with threats from countries such as Iran and North Korea, and says Russia should have nothing to fear.

Russia has offered a compromise solution, which would allow the US to share use of a radar installation in Azerbaijan.

Mr Putin described the new early-warning station - at Lekhtusi, 50km north of St Petersburg - as "the first step in the implementation of a major early-warning programme up to the year 2015".

The station was built in just 18 months and opened in December last year.

It replaces the Soviet Union's Skrunda radar station in Latvia, which was dismantled in 1998.

A similar installation is under construction at Armavir in southern Russia.

[grupo guitarlumber] 18/7/2007 09:24

Russia rejects NATO offer of talks on key arms pact UPDATE
Date : 18/07/2007 @ 10:20
Source : TFN


Russia rejects NATO offer of talks on key arms pact UPDATE


MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russia has rejected an offer from NATO to hold
talks on Moscow's decision to suspend its participation in a key European arms
control treaty, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
"I don't see much point in holding such a meeting since the position of NATO
on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty has not yet changed," Yevgeny
Buzhinsky, a top defence ministry official, was quoted as saying.
In a statement released on Monday, NATO expressed concern about the Russian
suspension. NATO said it remained committed to the treaty and urged Moscow to
enter into talks to ensure the text is not abandoned.
The CFE treaty limits deployments of tanks and troops in NATO and in former
Warsaw Pact countries, as well as containing measures aimed at transparency and
cooperation between member states.
Buzhinsky said Russia was not planning an arms build-up on its Western
frontier and would not deploy short- and medium-range missiles in its
Kaliningrad enclave between Poland and Lithuania.
"The Russian moratorium on the CFE absolutely does not mean that our troops
will be increased on the western frontier. We do not see this as necessary,"
Buzhinsky said, "so far I do not see direct threats to our security," he added.
Russia has reacted angrily to US plans to deploy parts of an anti-missile
defence system in central Europe, as well as NATO expansion into the former
Soviet region.
[e-mail]
jag/jag

[ariane] 06/7/2007 07:24

Russia warns against Georgia, Ukraine joining NATO


MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russia warned on Friday that the entry of
Georgia and Ukraine into NATO could affect its ties with the alliance and would
do nothing to bolster trust in Europe, Interfax news agency reported.
"Georgia's and Ukraine's joining of the alliance cannot fail to influence
our relations with those countries, and with NATO as a whole," Interfax reported
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov as saying.
"It is entirely obvious that it will not help strengthen the atmosphere of
trust and mutual understanding in Europe, to put it mildly," he was reported as
saying.
Moscow sees no "rational arguments that this expansion will aid the security
interests of these states," Denisov said.
Russia has strenuously objected to the NATO membership goals of Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili and of his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor
Yushchenko, as part of their move towards the West.
Both countries face serious obstacles to joining, including public
opposition in Ukraine and two separatist conflicts in Georgia.

[e-mail]
jlc