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View Full Version : Russians intercept a U.S. B-52 Strategic Bomber over Baltic Sea



Bob
6th June 2017, 14:12
Tit for tat? or a shade of "Failsafe" 1964..




“Russia’s air defense detected the aircraft on Tuesday morning at around 7:00 GMT, the statement said. The Su-27 of the Russian Baltic Fleet was deployed in response and shadowed the American aircraft after identifying it, as the bomber was flying in neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea along the border, the ministry said.”

Where the interception took place it’s not clear at the time of writing. Most probably, the American Buff was flying in international airspace off Kaliningrad Oblast, where most of these “close encounters” have taken place in the recent years.

The Stratofortress involved in the intercept must have been one of the two B-52Hs belonging to the 2nd BW (Bomb Wing) from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana,deployed to Royal Air Force Fairford, United Kingdom, to support various exercises, including BALTOPS and Saber Strike, throughout northern Europe during the month of June.

Quoted from: https://theaviationist.com/2017/06/06/a-russian-su-27-flanker-has-intercepted-a-u-s-b-52-strategic-bomber-over-the-baltic-sea/

From the 1964 movie, FailSafe:

[..] a fictional account of a nuclear crisis. The film features performances by actors Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau and Frank Overton. Larry Hagman, Fritz Weaver, Dom DeLuise and Sorrell Booke appeared in early film roles.

Fail Safe describes how Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States lead to an accidental thermonuclear first strike after an error sends a group of US bombers to bomb Moscow.


http://pics.imcdb.org/0ge19/191763-FailSafe16.jpghttp://pics.imcdb.org/0ge19/191764-FailSafe17.jpg

Builder
6th June 2017, 20:47
Nothing special. The US, Russians, Chinese, they are all doing it. It's a mixture of showing strength and testing the defences of the other side. Of course the side which got the bombers near their borders will use the opportunity for propaganda while doing the same to the other side without mentioning a word of it in their own press.

If it's mentioned in English speaking press like here, then of course the Russians did at least some dangerous flying: "the Russian combat planes have aggressively maneuvered close to (or even barrel rolled over) the U.S. spyplanes". Oh those poor American aviators ;-)