Russian Bombers Probe Canadian Airspace

This week, CF-18 fighters from CFB Bagotville, in Quebec, were scrambled to intercept Russian bombers apparently about to enter Canadian airspace.
 
The aircraft were identified as TU-95s, but the incident marks a significant deviation from normal activity. Russian aircraft typically approach Canada from the west, whereas in this latest incident they came in from the east.
 
The routes previously flown have been traditional cold war bombing routes. (Following the break up of the Soviet Union, these flights stopped for some years, primarily due to lack of resources). The aircraft involved are often very old, like the TU-95, although the TU-160, a supersonic bomber with a range of 7,640 miles without refuelling, entered service in 1987. There are, however, believed to be less than 20 serviceable TU-160 airframes, although further deliveries are anticipated at the rate of two every three years. Russia is said to have an eventual target of 30 aircraft. The largest know sortie of TU-160s is believed to have involved 11 aircraft.
 
In February 2009 a TU-160 was intercepted approaching Canadian airspace. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reacted angrily to the incursion, which occurred 24 hours before US President Barack Obama was due to visit Canada, saying "I have expressed at various times the deep concern our government has with increasingly aggressive Russian actions around the globe and Russian intrusions into our airspace...This government has responded every time the Russians have done that. We will continue to respond; we will defend our airspace."

In late 2007, a TU-160 out of Engels Air Base near Saratov on Russia's Volga delta  passed within 20 miles of the British coast, near Hull, totally unchallenged. As a "stand-off" bomber, it would have been well within range of potential high-value targets within the north and east of England. The primary armament is 6 x Kh-55 cruise missiles fitted in two internal rotary launchers. Alternatively, 12 x Kh-15 short-range nuclear missiles can be fitted.
 
Britain's Royal Air Force is under renewed pressure from the government to slash costs, and it was announced this week that one aircraft type is to be slashed completely - either the Harrier or the Tornado. At the time of writing, it is not uncommon for the total number of serviceable UK-based fighters capable of intercepting Russian bombers to number in single figures. The Tornado is particularly notorious, with avionics equipment having to be borrowed from German squdrons in order to keep them in the air.
 
In March of this year, two Tornados intercepted a TU-160 off the coast of Stornoway. This was the 20th time in 15 months that Russian bombers entered UK airspace.