Russian bombers 'buzzed' US aircraft carrier

[ZetaNine]

Did not see this posted...and I must say that after the Iran speed boat incident...it is getting pretty damn embarrassing.  The navy needs to re-address their rules of engagment.....I'm getting tired of looking like punks...and our enemies knowing we will continue to do so.

No "Official Protests" here.....Send out memos to all heads of state.... bring any vehicle closer that 1 mile anywhere near a us warship...and the plane/boat/sub gets destroyed after one warning.

= = = =

US Navy fighter jets were scrambled to shadow and intercept a Russian bomber which buzzed and circled over an American aircraft carrier over the weekend in a Top Gun-style incident in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

One Russian Tupolev 95 buzzed the USS Nimitz twice on Saturday, the Associated Press has reported an anonymous source as saying.

The plane flew over the carrier at an altitude of just 600m, similar to the "fly-bys" depicted in the Tom Cruise film.  A second Russian bomber circled nearby.

The Russians had been tracked since they took off from Ukrainka and were monitored as they broke off from the rest of their formation and flew into Japanese air space.

The two Tupolevs continued on a course towards the Nimitz and a US guided missile cruiser, USS Princeton.

Four F/A-18 fighter planes were sent to intercept them when they breached an 800km perimeter. Two stayed with the Tupolev circling at altitude about 80km from the Nimitz while two followed the other bomber as it approached the carrier.

The US fighters trailed the Tuoplev as it buzzed the Nimitz.  No words were exchanged between the US and Russian pilots throughout the entire incident.

[Reschke]

Russki kamikazie training mission.

[Chairboy]

Nothing new, Bears used to buzz carriers all the time back in the old days.  On another board, someone noted that the Argentinians used to do touch & goes on US carriers in their Entenards for fun, and I've seen video of russian planes buzzing US ships too.

[ZetaNine]

I was waiting for someone to say "nothing new"...but actually....alot is new.  It's a different world now....we're in a protracted global war.....and we're being "tested" by too many lately....and quite frankly...I'm sick of watching us whipe spit off our faces from it all.

[Russian]

Originally posted by ZetaNine
I was waiting for someone to say "nothing new"...but actually....alot is new.  It's a different world now....we're in a protracted global war.....and we're being "tested" by too many lately....and quite frankly...I'm sick of watching us whipe spit off our faces from it all.

LOL

[Trell]

Originally posted by ZetaNine
I was waiting for someone to say "nothing new"...but actually....alot is new.  It's a different world now....we're in a protracted global war.....and we're being "tested" by too many lately....and quite frankly...I'm sick of watching us whipe spit off our faces from it all.

Ya i agree,  If we just shoot them down when they get close they will learn not to make us look bad.

To bad they dont have tasers for airplanes.

[AKIron]

No need to shoot down Russian planes. If they attack we will know who is responsible and retaliate accordingly. The situation is a bit different when it comes to unknown terrorist threats.

[ZetaNine]

perhaps the devil is in the details...but flying 600m over one of our carriers in war time is "attacking" to me.

I guess I'd just like our President to make that known.

[Nilsen]

And not so many days ago a norwegian P3 buzzed a russian aircraft carrier in the north sea.

We are not at war with russia so they didnt shoot it down.

[lasersailor184]

Perhaps that's why none of us would be good ship commanders.  I would have assumed that hostile positioning was hostile intent.

[AWwrgwy]

Originally posted by ZetaNine
perhaps the devil is in the details...but flying 600m over one of our carriers in war time is "attacking" to me.

I guess I'd just like our President to make that known.

Congress declared war on somebody.  I missed the announcement, again.



wrngway

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
Perhaps that's why none of us would be good ship commanders.  I would have assumed that hostile positioning was hostile intent.

Nope the ship commanders were 100% correct in their action (or lack of action)

[Chairboy]

Goodness, a lot of posturing!  The ship commanders know their jobs, and they know how ridiculously stupid it would be to let the russians provoke them into firing first.  There's a lot of "shoot first, think never" armchair admirals here, that's for sure.

I'm curious about the 'directly overhead' aspect of the report, during the cold war these 'buzz jobs' would usually be just off to one side or the other.  If the reporting is accurate (and I question this), then this would represent a change, but I'm pretty skeptical.

[Pyro]

Originally posted by ZetaNine

The plane flew over the carrier at an altitude of just 600m, similar to the "fly-bys" depicted in the Tom Cruise film.  

A flyby at 2000 ft is similar to the one depicted in Top Gun?   Is that a real news report quoted?

[Chairboy]

Here's a post from another board on the subject that may be of interest:

Bear interceptions by US fighters used to be pretty routine in the cold war days, and it sounds like they will be again. I've seen lots of flights over Navy ships, there is always one fighter in close and one well back in trail. A cousin of mine did several as an Air Guard pilot. There are well understood rules of engagement that both sides play by.

Normal interception is by two fighters. One holds back a couple of miles in trail of the bear, the other moves up close to positively identify him. My cousin told me on his first intercept he was the in close guy. As he moved up into the 5 o'clock position on the Bear the bombers tail guns tracked him.

He moved in close enough to see the gunner's eyes, then transmitted to the guy in trail (in the clear on guard) "I have identified him, and he is hostile". At that point the guy in trail responded "Roger, I'm hot" and the trail guy "illuminated" the bomber on his radar. Immediately the tail guns on the bomber went straight up in the air, and everyone relaxed.

Now, if that Bear over the Nimitz had cracked open his bomb bay doors, I'm willing to bet that a slammer or two would have been in the air in about a heartbeat.

http://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=39324&page=2