Russian Long Range Bombers disrupt UK airspace

[weltweit]

Russian military jets 'disrupted UK aviation'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31049952

Russian military planes flying near UK airspace caused "disruption to civil aviation" on Wednesday, the Foreign Office has said.

It said the Russian aircraft did not enter UK airspace, but the manoeuvres were "part of increasing pattern of out-of-area operations" by Russia.

The planes were "escorted" by RAF jets "throughout the time they were in the UK area of interest", officials added.

wtf are the Ruskies up to, why would they send their long range bombers to fly up the English Channel?

 

[laptop]

Russian military jets 'disrupted UK aviation'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31049952


wtf are the Ruskies up to, why would they send their long range bombers to fly up the English Channel?

Grr. I bet the planes were turbo-props [/aero-pedant]

A: Politics. They did probing flights from 1949 to 1989. The US certainly did the same (the opening of Dr Strangelove was based on true stories )

A2: Possibly, internal Russian politics - the military impressing its will on the rest of the administration.

 

[brogdale]

...and look what I spotted in the New Year Day's parade just outside the IoD...

 

[Flavour]

yeah, i'd agree with laptop - probably more to do with keeping the air force happy (when they clearly have very little to do) and keeping a low flame boiling under the kettle of patriotism

 

[bluescreen]

Russian military jets 'disrupted UK aviation'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31049952

wtf are the Ruskies up to, why would they send their long range bombers to fly up the English Channel?

To remind us that they've got long range bombers. Just in case NATO has any idea about interfering in any states bordering Russia where dissidents might be thinking of wanting to annex themselves to the Motherland?

 

[laptop]

To remind us that they've got long range bombers. Just in case NATO has any idea about interfering in any states bordering Russia where dissidents might be thinking of wanting to annex themselves to the Motherland?

Yes, them politics, among others.

 

[Flavour]

i don't think there's any question of NATO on the ground in Ukraine

 

[StoneRoad]

"Bear" visits - I hesitate to call 'em raids - have been a fact of life for the RAF; radar spots the "bear" and command scrambles a couple of jets to "investigate".
Cue mutual camera actions and a wave or two. "Bear" turns back and RAF return to base.
I'm sure the original intention was to work out RAF response time and zone for detections - but now, I've no idea.
The English Channel is a new area for me - most of the above adventures were over the North Sea !

 

[bluescreen]

i don't think there's any question of NATO on the ground in Ukraine

No question of that, I agree, but there are Baltic states in NATO.

 

[Spymaster]

Great looking aeroplanes though.

 

[pogofish]

A: Politics. They did probing flights from 1949 to 1989. The US certainly did the same (the opening of Dr Strangelove was based on true stories )

They also resumed them a couple of years back - more or less the same MO/routes as before and there have been pretty regular RAF intercepts at all-points round the UK coast since.

 

[DotCommunist]

that thing at the front makes it look like the planes got a nob on its head

 

[pogofish]

Great looking planes.

Yup! And one of the best/fastest military turboprops ever designed - IIRC they have outlasted the jet engined versions that were supposed to replace them.

 

[laptop]

The English Channel is a new area for me - most of the above adventures were over the North Sea !

That'll be why Air Traffic Control prompted the news story.

Somewhere in the Kremlin there's a recipe-book grading probing flights by provocativeness, and for some reason someone there turned the page.

 

[bemused]

Bet they just want to come over and abuse our benefits system - N Farage

 

[pogofish]

No question of that, I agree, but there are Baltic states in NATO.

Not the Kalliningrad Oblast - Seems they either operate from or are refueled in flight by planes from there.

The TU95 is also pretty famous for its operational range, somewhere over 8000 nautical miles IIRC - back in the Cold War and restarted more recently by Putin, a typical TU-95 deployment would involve the plane flying over the North Sea/Atlantic en-route from Russia to Cuba and then back. So a jaunt round the UK probably just warms it-up!

 

[dylanredefined]

i don't think there's any question of NATO on the ground in Ukraine

Well there are plenty of NATO uniforms there both sides seem to be wearing all sorts of uniforms.

 

[quiquaquo]

How about a Tu-160 next time. That should wake up the UK military a bit.

 

[yield]

Well there are plenty of NATO uniforms there both sides seem to be wearing all sorts of uniforms.

Yes. Here's a clip of an American in Ukraine

Spoiler: youtube clip

possible dodgy source

 

[dylanredefined]

How about a Tu-160 next time. That should wake up the UK military a bit.

How about a Tu-160 next time. That should wake up the UK military a bit.



[/QUOTE
if they can find one which works

 

[SaskiaJayne]

Bears are wonderful cold war icons, I love them & welcome them prowling our shores maintaining radio silence, failing to file flightplans, no names no transponders etc. It brings back all the stuff I loved all those yrs ago like spy swaps at checkpoint Charlie in the snow.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Bears are wonderful cold war icons, I love them & welcome them prowling our shores maintaining radio silence, failing to file flightplans, no names no transponders etc.

They aren't exactly undetectable though - a couple of old boys, a few miles apart, with ear trumpets, could pin one down quite accurately, what with the propeller tips breaking the sound barrier constantly.

 

[laptop]

They aren't exactly undetectable though - a couple of old boys, a few miles apart, with ear trumpets, could pin one down quite accurately, what with the propeller tips breaking the sound barrier constantly.

Presumably the propeller tips break the sound barrier during takeoff and stay supersonic until shortly before landing?

Anyway - what's that sound like at ground level when they're in cruise?

 

[Spymaster]

Anyway - what's that sound like at ground level when they're in cruise?

 

[DotCommunist]

a stealth bomber and no mistake

 

[8ball]

a stealth bomber and no mistake

Actual stealth bombers make a massively unholy racket tbf.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Anyway - what's that sound like at ground level when they're in cruise?

I'm struggling to imagine it, to be honest. Here's a Concorde over the open ocean, generating two shock waves



What the hell does eight propellers all generating shock waves sound like?

 

[DownwardDog]

Anyway - what's that sound like at ground level when they're in cruise?

In flight you can hear them at about 5,000m away. At under 200m seperation they sound painfully loud from inside another aircraft. Any crew member with more than 1,000 hours on them is as deaf as a post.

 

[DownwardDog]

Bears are wonderful cold war icons, I love them & welcome them prowling our shores maintaining radio silence, failing to file flightplans, no names no transponders etc. It brings back all the stuff I loved all those yrs ago like spy swaps at checkpoint Charlie in the snow.

You welcome it? It's really fucking dangerous as the air space of Northern Europe is a lot more congested now and these pieces of shit have crude nav kit, a clockwork 2 axis AP and no collision avoidance.

 

[Dogsauce]

Great looking planes though.

Does that say 'BBC' on the tail?