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 O ut o ienation f Hibern AIR FORCE Magazine Magazine FORCE AIR / February 2012 February /

ITAR/Tass photo by Artyom Korotayev

Photo by Yevgeniy Kazennov I will treat this with understanding.” with this treat will partners our hope “We said, he tion, consump US for meant undoubtedly basis.” In a remark to that reporters was a regular “on patrols such conducting of beginning the marked mission the adding that Putin Vladimir announced, manent basis,” Russia’s then-President on a aviation per strategic by Russian the in era. War post-Cold sporadically had only Russia which mounted flights, strategic regular training of resumption the they marked because were noteworthy borders. Russia’s beyond well patrols with command and control and lack lack of compounded equipment appropriate and control and command troubles with saying operation, the cized criti openly officials military retired Russian some campaign, Georgia the After 2008. of to conflict 1990s Georgian the the of conflicts costly and Chechnya bloody the from ranging in proved less than decisive operations its interests. assert to them using occasionally forces— its strategic and refurbishing Russia is challenges, slowly rebuilding “We have decided to restore flights flights to restore “We have decided missions uneventful otherwise The Russia’s conventional power has has power conventional Russia’s economic and demographic Facing were were the start of long-range The launches synchronized country. that across bases into the sky lumbered from a aircraft of support number and bombers strategic Russia’s of 14 2007, 17, n the wee hours of Aug. Aug. of hours wee the 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. British fighters took over escort we have good insight into it through the country has asserted seabed and once the Bears left Dutch airspace. the START agreement,” Daalder said. boundary territorial claims. This has The implications of these Russian NATO understands what’s happening, been prompted by warming of the Arctic activities and investments are being and most members don’t feel the need Ocean, resulting in reduced pack ice somewhat downplayed in Europe, to take issue with the activities so far. and greater access to oil and natural gas especially among NATO allies. Flights Still, Russia has demonstrated its exploration and commercial navigation. into European territory are noticed, willingness to use these assets amid territorial and diplomatic disputes. In early September, two Bear bomb- A Tu-22M3 Backfire drops its weapons load over a training range in Russia. The supersonic long-range bomber has been in service since 1983. ers flew around the Japanese mainland on a long-range patrol, and while they did not enter Japanese airspace, the flight drew a harsh response

Photo Yevgeniy Kazennov by from the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which called on Russia to refrain from “provocative” military action. Some Japanese viewed the exercise as an attempt to pressure the new Japanese government. The flight was provocative in the context of a long simmering dispute. Russia has since World War II held the two southernmost islands in the Kuril Island chain that stretches between Hokkaido and the Kamchatka penin- sula, but those islands are also claimed by Japan. The dispute flared in 2010 when President Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian President to visit the archipelago, followed by other AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2012 59 exercise simulated an international air terrorism scenario over the Pacific, requiring both Russia and NORAD to launch fighters to investigate a hijacked airliner and coordinate monitoring

Photo Yevgeniy Kazennovvia and hand-off. Vigilant Eagle was an “overwhelming success” and helped create an environment for further cooperative efforts, Winnefeld said. US Pacific Command also works with the Russian military, particularly in the Eastern Military District, which oversees air and naval forces in the eastern portion of Russia. With partners in US European Command, PACOM maintains discussions with the Russian Colonels Working Group. The group met with Russian officials in Moscow in November to go over an annual plan, USAF Raptors fly just off the wing of a Tu-95MS Bear. Photos of this November 2007 arranging certain bilateral and multilat- intercept near Alaska usually show it from the F-22’s perspective. This is what it eral events and exercises and visits with looked like to the Russians. the United States. senior officials promising to expand the for supply purposes, and it cooperates The commander of Russia’s Eastern Russian military presence there. with multilateral efforts such as anti- Military District, Adm. Konstantin The flight aroused “suspicion among piracy actions in the Gulf of Aden. The Sidenko, visited PACOM headquarters the Japanese people about its inten- cruiser Admiral Panteleev, on rotation in October to participate in the 14th tions,” Japanese Foreign Minister with other Russian vessels, patrols annual Chiefs of Defense Conference, Koichiro Gemba said in a press con- the gulf, as part of an international hosted by PACOM’s Adm. Robert ference following the patrol. Russian coalition to escort merchant shipping. F. Willard. The conference brought officials stressed Tokyo had been “My belief is that we can and will together senior military leaders from warned in advance of the flights and find many zones of practical coopera- 26 Asia-Pacific countries to discuss said they are standard practice of the tion with Russia,” said Adm. James G. mutual security challenges, improve armed forces of any state. Stavridis, NATO’s supreme allied com- relationships, and build on coopera- With such a large geographic area to mander Europe and head of US European tive efforts. secure, Russia has a range of disputes Command. NATO and the US share Plans and statements aside, Thorn- and concerns that have remained fairly many common security challenges and ton said when it comes to the Russian consistent since the end of the Cold War, should develop “practical cooperation” military, it is important to watch how from US and NATO missile defense in areas such as counter-piracy, arms closely actions match up with words. systems in Europe to surveillance of control, Arctic policy, military training, What Russia says, what the parliament their submarine deployments, expansion and other areas, he said. budgets for, and what actually happens of NATO in Eastern Europe, and US can be “very different,” he observed. support for Georgia, Thornton noted. Maintaining Vigilance Russia has built lofty policy documents Disagreements over the missile shield Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., then- in the past that included plans for missile have become increasingly contentious, US Northern Command and NORAD regiments, new bombers, and other as- however. In November, Medvedev an- commander, told Congress last March sets. “Then, if you go back a year later, nounced Russia would put early warn- his forces monitor Russian long-range and look at what they did,” the plans ing radar stations on alert and deploy aviation flights and routinely fly inter- often evaporated. strategic missiles to counter the US cepts with Canadian and US fighters. Russia is a difficult country to un- missile defense system in Europe if Rus- “Despite recent improvements in derstand strategically, he added, but if sia’s concerns about the system aren’t US-Russian relations that reflect a dra- you consider Russia as a business, then addressed. Talks continued through matically reduced likelihood of conflict, its actions begin to make more sense. December. we maintain our vigilance regarding “Russian wealth and power is largely At the same time, there are signs of the high-end threat,” he said in written derived from its natural resources, and cooperation. Russia has entered into testimony to the House Armed Services so it requires some minimal military organizations such as the G8, which Committee. capability to protect its national bor- gives it much-desired prestige and in- Still, greater emphasis is put on ter- ders and national security,” Thornton ternational credibility. The G8, which rorist use of civil aircraft, he noted, and said. Strategic nuclear forces—bombers, Russia joined in 1997, also contains cooperation with Russian forces has missiles, and submarines—give it that Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, improved on that front. capability and also impart continued the UK, and the US—a group of eight In August 2010, NORAD and Russia international prestige. industrialized, democratic economies. worked together for the first time in a Judging from the country’s recent Militarily, Russia has played a role three-day, live-fly exercise designed to emphasis on these forces, it seems the in US efforts in Afghanistan by open- ensure clear communications during decision-makers in Moscow would ing the Northern Distribution Network a crisis. Dubbed Vigilant Eagle, the agree. n 60 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2012