Russian Planes Flying Close To Uk

[Booldawg]

In the news again, but how do they fly so close to us without being picked up by other EU countries radar?

Not heard reports from other countries about Russian military planes in their airspace?

[EDDIE51]

Yes, it has been going on since the 1950s and the Russians are still flying the same aircraft the 'Bear' with it contra rotating propeller engines . The Bear along with the USAs B52 are the longest continuously serving aircraft in the world.

[EDDIE51]

image of the 'Bear' here
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120130121715/empiresandallies/images/9/9e/Bear_Bomber.jpg

[bazwillrun]

Its been going on for years, and we do the same to them and other countries.
nothing new, just a reaction test and gives the airforces "something to do"

[retrocop]

Yes . We and other countries do the same. Only difference is that Russia have been known to shoot them down in the past. Gary Powers, Korean civilian airliner accidentally strayed into Russian airspace!! No bon homme and waving,thumbs up between pilots there!

[retrocop]

sorry. should of least provided a link on last post

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/korean-airlines-flight-shot-down-by-soviet-union

[237SJ]

According to that link Retrocop - the Soviets did send escorting planes up but the Koreans failed to respond.

[retrocop]

And we will never know why the easily identifiable civilian airliner was 200 miles off course either. It was described as a misunderstanding by some. Soviet officers responsible for air defense were sacked. I suppose the Malaysian civilian airliner will be described as a misunderstanding by Putin as well. Still to be fair the bears were not,apparently, in British airspace. Close but not, actually, in it.

[ivor4781]

there not picked by other EU countries as they fly around Scotland and down the west coast

[ichkeria]

They are picked up by other EU countries - one last month was escorted jointly by British and French jets. It isn't so newsworthy though for a British audience.
This sort of incident probably is peculiarly Russian in its preening pointlessness

[Hypognosis]

@youngmafbog

If there were any Buffs in the UK, I'm sure the plane spotters would be all over them. Or the Mercans would be rounding them up, like the Greeks once did to a bunch of unwary Brit spotters, at a dual-use airport, some years back.

I prefer to imagine that we treat the Rus as if they are on a hair trigger and carry out no act which they could then leap on as 'provocation' for whatever military move they would dearly like to make next.

They are Clint Eastwood, inviting us to "make (their) day".

In the cold war, the US did have their bombers flying in rotation 24/7/365, possibly using Canadian airspace by prior arrangement such that, if ICBMs wiped out SAC on the ground and missile silos before the return strike could be enacted, then there would still be enough bombers in the air to fly over the pole and deliver the return strike, even allowing for losses on the way.

So, on the whole, we do not indulge in 'sabre rattling' missions. These would only serve to undermine the narrative of fine, upstanding Western Alliance versus threatening, corrupt, Russian kleptocracy. We know that things are painted the exact other way around in Russia. Gurd knows whether their TV stations play the intercept footage at all, let alone how they spin the story. As long as the footage only shows ocean and avoids any identifiable pieces of coastal geography, they can pretend, to the home audience that it was a training mission harrassed by NATO fighter jets, or some such grollicks.

[Hypognosis]

Footnote:

http://bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31537705

[ichkeria]

Russian TV is now toxic.
Some of the stuff is quite scary
Hard to believe that only 15 or so years ago they televised an audience participation investigation into claims (almost certainly true) that the Putin's FSB bombed apartment blocks killing hundreds. Since then the killers have taken over the asylum
Actually they showed footage of the previous Channel incident, with the pilot being escorted off the premises by British and French jets.