Russia Resumes Cold War-Style Missions

Last month, Russian Tupolev 95 "Bear" bombers flew missions which took them uncomfortably close to Norwegian and British airspace on a flight path toward the North Sea oil fields. Both countries scrambled fighter jets. Afterward, Russian authorities said the bombers were merely on a training mission.

This week, Russian Air Force Gen. Pavel Androsov said that a strategic Russian bomber flew over the U.S. Naval Base on Guam causing U.S. fighters to scramble. During the incident, American and Russian pilots "exchanged smiles," he added.

Androsov also indicated that Russia has "resumed cold war-style missions to areas patrolled by the United States."

The Pentagon flatly rejected Gen. Androsov's claim, saying that no bombers flew near Guam nor were any U.S. aircraft ordered to intercept.

According to a Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler, two Russian aircraft were detected Wednesday flying south over the Pacific toward Guam. Another Defense Department official said the Russian bombers were about 305 miles from Guam and about 100 miles from any American aircraft.

Readers can believe whomever they want, but I'm fairly confident that Russian aircraft couldn't get within 1,000 miles of the strategic facilities on Guam without being meticulously tracked by the U.S. military.

Of course, it's somewhat troubling that Russia has decided to become more adversarial but it's not a total surprise. President Putin seems to have a lot of Kruschev in him.