Putin's bombers intercepted east and west of Russia

2015-03-25T11:06:37-04:00

Putin's bombers intercepted east and west of Russia

Russian strategic bombers have been intercepted several times over the space of a few days while they were conducting long-range overflights of the Korea Strait and the Baltic, respectively east and west of Russia.

On 20 March, a single Tupolev Tu-95 'Bear' bomber was intercepted off the coast of Japan by fighters from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF).

According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD), the Russian aircraft was tracked flying between South Korea and Japan's Kyushu Island. It was intercepted by JASDF F-15J fighters before being shadowed over the disputed Kuril Islands to the north of Japan and back into Russia.

Four days after this first incident, Russian bombers and fighters were intercepted by Swedish, Finnish, and NATO combat aircraft over the Baltic Sea on 24 March.

Two Tupolev Tu-22M3 'Backfire' bombers and two Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker' fighters were intercepted in international airspace with their transponders switched off. According to reports, the aircraft were trailed into the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

News of the interceptions near Japan and over the Baltic Sea come after the announcement that the Russian military would station a number of Tu-22M3 bombers and Iskander-M (SS-26 'Stone') tactical ballistic missiles in the annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea for exercises.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made May 30 at 2015 12:28 PM

2015-05-30T12:28:04-04:00

It is good to know that we and others have the capability to "intercept" Russian strategic bombers. Hopefully we have the capability to intercept strategic missiles if they are launched.