A Russian Tu-95MS Bear bomber takes on fuel from an Il- 78M Midas tanker. The iconic turboprop aircraft dominates Russia’s strategic bomber force. Inset: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visits the nuclear-powered subma- rine Alexander Nevsky. Russia has seabed and territory claims in the Arctic and has increased its submarine patrols in the icy waters. Out of Hibern ation After two decades of military decline and costly regional wars, Russia is again investing in—and exercising—its strategic forces. By Marc V. Schanz, Senior Editor 56 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2012 n the wee hours of Aug. 17, 2007, 14 of Russia’s strategic bombers and a number of support aircraft lumbered into the sky from bases across that country. The synchronized launches were the start of long-range patrols well beyond Russia’s borders. IThe otherwise uneventful missions were noteworthy because they marked the resumption of regular strategic training flights, which Russia had mounted only sporadically in the post-Cold War era. “We have decided to restore flights by Russian strategic aviation on a per- manent basis,” Russia’s then-President Vladimir Putin announced, adding that the mission marked the beginning of conducting such patrols “on a regular basis.” In a remark to reporters that was undoubtedly meant for US consump- tion, he said, “We hope our partners will treat this with understanding.” ITAR/Tass photoITAR/Tass by Artyom Korotayev Out of Hibern ation Facing demographic and economic challenges, Russia is slowly rebuilding and refurbishing its strategic forces— occasionally using them to assert its interests. Russia’s conventional power has proved less than decisive in operations ranging from the bloody and costly Chechnya conflicts of the 1990s to the Georgian conflict of 2008. After the Georgia campaign, some retired Russian military officials openly criti- cized the operation, saying troubles with command and control and lack Photo Yevgeniy Kazennov by of appropriate equipment compounded AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2012 57 Yuri Dolgorukiy during sea trials. The submarine will be capable of launching Rus- sia’s Bulava ballistic missile, still in development. Photo by Alexey Victorovich Schekinov other persistent problems to deny Rus- North Atlantic to the Arctic and even revitalization is domestic political sia clear success. the waters near Guam. gain. The moves increase Russian “If they were honest, they would Russia and China both are expanding perceptions of national strength. prefer to have conventional military the amount of area they cover in sur- Russia is carefully trying to rebuild capability—but they don’t,” noted veillance and exercise tracks outside the prestige many officials in govern- Russian military analyst Charles L. their national airspace, but that’s not ment and the military believe the nation Thornton. As recent exercises have particularly alarming to Pacific Air has lost since the end of the Cold War. demonstrated repeatedly, Russia’s Forces chief Gen. Gary L. North. “A lot of the analyses on Russian military clout depends on its strategic “That’s why they call it international activities [assume] Russia is a single forces—and this perception within airspace,” he quipped to reporters at the entity,” said Thornton, the Washington, Russia is driving a renewal of the Air Force Association’s Air & Space D.C., area director of an intelligence country’s strategic arms. Conference this past September. consulting firm, Operational Surveyors Much like the US, Russia plans to “The Russians are out quite a bit, Inc., and a fellow at the Center for revamp its strategic weapons in the extending their long range capabili- International and Security Studies at wake of the April 2010 signing of the ties,” he said. “It gives them an op- the University of Maryland. “There New START agreement. New START portunity to do long-range training. are a lot of different actors inside limits each country to 1,550 deployed Clearly, their maintenance is doing that country; they all have different strategic warheads and 800 delivery much better, their training is doing perspectives. There are both external systems, including both deployed and much better, so they are out there quite national security reasons [for their ac- nondeployed. According to estimates a bit,” North observed. tions] and internal domestic political by the Congressional Research Service, reasons for it.” after New START reductions, Russia Reinvigorating the Triad Thornton, who first worked with the will field about 400 deployed delivery The Russian bomber fleet has in- Russians in the 1990s under the Coop- vehicles and 1,335 deployed warheads creased its participation in both Rus- erative Threat Reduction Program, has (counting each bomber as one warhead). sian and multilateral exercises in the since built extensive contacts among The new nuclear force structure last few years as well, sometimes military officials there. The renewal will be more modern, though. New pairing the Bear with its more modern, of the flying program, he said, is part systems being deployed include the swing-wing jet aircraft counterpart, of Russia’s attempt to reinvigorate its SS-27 intercontinental ballistic missile the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack. strategic triad. multiple warhead variant, the RS-24, Despite their age, the bombers still The Strategic Rocket Forces—the which will replace three older missile pack a credible deterrent capability. branch of the Russian military respon- systems. Russia is also moving ahead In October 2008, the exercise Stabil- sible for the country’s ICBMs—has on testing and development of the ity-2008 saw Bears firing live, air always been the prime emphasis of Bulava SS-N-32 sea launched ballistic launched cruise missiles for the first the country’s strategic planning and missile for its submarine fleet and the time since 1984. The Kh-55 cruise mis- doctrine, with submarines second in new Borey-class SSBN, to replace sile, called the AS-15 Kent by NATO, the pecking order. two older systems: the SS-N-18 and is key to the bomber’s longevity and The resumption of the bomber patrols Delta III. place in Russia’s strategic forces, just dovetails with Russia’s planned stra- Russia’s strategic bomber force, as the US B-52 fleet is dependent on tegic modernization. For many years, meanwhile, continues to be dominated standoff cruise missiles for nuclear there were no regular bomber training by the iconic turboprop Tu-95 Bear—a operations. flights, and now the military feels the mainstay of these now-regular patrols With a range of about 2,000 miles, bomber fleet must be brought back up in both the European and Pacific the Kent will keep the Bear fleet to standards. theaters. strategically relevant for years. Each “The bomber link has always been Since the August 2007 announce- Tu-95 can fly patterns from standoff the weakest,” Thornton asserted. ment, Russian bombers have flown distances and hold prospective targets The Russian bombers will receive long-range sorties far from the periph- at risk with at least six cruise missiles. substantial modernization funds, if eries of both its European and Pacific One indisputable purpose of Rus- Russian defense plans are any indica- territory—from Scandinavia and the sia’s strategic exercises and nuclear tion. Russia has 77 Blackjack and Bear 58 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2012 strategic bombers combined and plans upgrades to the targeting and navigation systems of both aircraft at a rate of two or three per year, concluding in 2015. By the end of the New START pro- cess, Russia’s bomber force will consist Photo Yevgeniy Kazennov by of 13 upgraded Blackjacks and 63 up- graded Bears; one Blackjack, though more modern than the Bear, will be retired before then. Reportedly, Russia plans to replace all of its strategic bombers with a new stealth aircraft in the 2025 to 2030 timeframe—roughly the same window in which the US Air Force wants to field its next long-range strategic bomber. A Tu-160 Blackjack bomber taxis at Engels Air Base in Russia. The modern The Tupolev Design Bureau began swing-wing bomber is sometimes paired with the Bear during Russian and development of the new bomber via a multilateral training exercises. contract with the Defense Ministry in 2009, and the airplane would likely be deployed after New START expires. Routes over the Arctic are a frequent but frankly have little to no impact, In 2010, Putin, who had since become path for Russian bombers on their long- said US Permanent Representative to Prime Minister, said Russia must “think range aviation patrols and represent the NATO Ivo H. Daalder in December. and get down to work on a next genera- most direct route to the North Atlantic, “If there is a desire by Russia to try to tion, long-range aviation complex—our Thornton noted. do this [in order] to intimidate people, new strategic missile carrier” and that Bomber flights have grown in length it’s not working. ... In fact, [it] gives top Russian aerospace industrial priori- and range, even penetrating Western air defense capabilities good training ties should be to design engines, new Europe’s sovereign airspace. to get up in the skies and fly,” he said. materials, and electronics for such a In August, two Royal Netherlands “It’s not seen as a change in the project. Air Force F-16s intercepted a pair of Russian direction,” Daalder said of Russian Bear bombers flying just outside the NATO allies’ opinion of the op- No Strategic Purpose of Dutch airspace without identifying erations. “It has no strategic [purpose Along with the intensified bomber themselves; on the same mission, they behind it.] … They are trying to flights, Russia is increasing its sub- had first been intercepted by Danish modernize their strategic capability; marine patrols in the Arctic, where fighters.