"An Old Challenge Has Returned"
Like a persistent toddler, Russia is apparently testing its
limits again. "Why" is still the question.
CH-18 Hornets were scrambled to intercept several Tupolev-95
Bear bombers flying over the arctic a bit too close to Canadian
airspace Friday, Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt told The Chronicle Herald.
"It's not exactly a new challenge; it's an old challenge that has
returned," Watt said.
The area buzzed by the bombers is located inside what the
Canadian military calls its air defense identification zone near
Inuvik, N.W.T.
"It's where we pay attention to people coming in," Watt said.
"They were never in our airspace. They were never in our sovereign
territory."
Even though the military is adopting an official "wait and see"
attitude, a change in activity has been noted recently compared to
previous occurrences during Canada's 50-year history with the North
American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, according to the
Chronicle Herald.
"We've been doing intercepts of the bombers for almost the whole
time," Watt said. "It's just a recent increase in the
frequency."
"We need a bigger sample size," he added. "A couple of missions
doesn't make a trend. And over the course of the next few years,
we'll see what their posture is. But on the basis of a few
missions, we just react as we always have."
This time, the Russian bombers actually came within visual range
of the Canadian fighters.
"We have responded in the traditional way to Russian incursions
of our airspace by meeting them as they enter our airspace with our
fighters to escort them through to show them that we're paying
attention," he said.
It's not like the country is being "inundated" by the Russian
long-range bomber flights, Watt said. "It's just the odd
probe."
"You sometimes get other airplanes, but they need a lot of
aerial refueling, and we haven't seen that since the Cold War era,"
he said.
Russia continues to
test Britain as well. In the largest show of strength since
President Vladimir Putin ordered strategic air patrols to resume in
August, British jets intercepted eight Russian nuclear-capable
bombers as they headed toward British airspace.
Russian air force spokesperson Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky
reportedly confirmed 14 long-range bombers were engaged in missions
over the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans Wednesday night.
As ANN reported, two Royal
Air Force jets were scrambled in August to intercept another bomber
after it came a little too close to entering United Kingdom
airspace over the north Atlantic. UK Sky News reported two
Eurofighter Typhoon interceptors shadowed the Cold War-era
reconnaissance aircraft when it appeared unannounced and brushed UK
airspace. The surveillance aircraft turned back just prior to
actually entering UK airspace.
Watt says no one should expect a return to Cold War attitudes
and behaviors that once amplified frigid relations between Russia
and North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries, despite
its recent actions.
"It's a different world. We're not going back to the Cold War,"
he said.
"But in the end, it does, I think, prove the point that we can't
take anything for granted."