# U.S. Fighters intercept Russian bombers



## Red-Dot (Jul 7, 2015)

F-22's and F-15's intercepted two different flights of Russian bombers. I can't believe these Bears can still get airborne!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ercept-russian-bombers-off-california-alaska/


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## AWP (Jul 7, 2015)

Sadly, this has become normal over the last few months/ years. I think the RAF has/ had an actual photo gallery on the intercepts it has run in the last year.

Cold war 2, Electric Boogaloo will be back and better than ever.

You could argue the guys on the planet carry the biggest balls are those Russian "B" (Bear, Backfire, etc.)  crews making long haul Arctic flights to visit us.


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## DA SWO (Jul 7, 2015)

Freefalling said:


> Sadly, this has become normal over the last few months/ years. I think the RAF has/ had an actual photo gallery on the intercepts it has run in the last year.
> 
> Cold war 2, Electric Boogaloo will be back and better than ever.
> 
> You could argue the guys on the planet carry the biggest balls are those Russian "B" (Bear, Backfire, etc.)  crews making long haul Arctic flights to visit us.


Meh, they know our guys are not going to be stupid, same can't be said about the Russian and Chinese Fighter Pilots intercepting our planes.

I fault the AF for not releasing current videos/photos of the intercept.  You can't tell me those pilots are not taking cell phone/gopro videos of the intercepts.


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## AKkeith (Jul 7, 2015)

This is a monthly occurrence. The standing joke is because after the one flight those things take a month of maintance to get back into the air.


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## 8654Maine (Jul 7, 2015)

Are you sure those weren't Mexican pilots?

Because, then it would be OK for them to do this.

Fuck Trump.

Wait, what?


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## racing_kitty (Jul 7, 2015)

8654Maine said:


> Are you sure those weren't Mexican pilots?
> 
> Because, then it would be OK for them to do this.
> 
> ...



I'm sure, since they're not getting an escort to land in the US with open arms. 

Yes, that's sarcasm...


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## Red Flag 1 (Jul 7, 2015)

Red-Dot said:


> F-22's and F-15's intercepted two different flights of Russian bombers. I can't believe these Bears can still get airborne!
> 
> http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ercept-russian-bombers-off-california-alaska/



The Russian Long Range Bears have airframes similar to our still flying BUFF's. I think I noted not all that long ago, that there are B-17 WW II era bombers mothballed, with less flying hours than some of our still flying B-52's. During the Cold War years, this went on all the time. It is facinating to imagine the F-22's, and all their tech advances, flying along side the Bear Bombers.


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## DA SWO (Jul 7, 2015)

Red Flag 1 said:


> The Russian Long Range Bears have airframes similar to our still flying BUFF's. I think I noted not all that long ago, that there are B-17 WW II era bombers mothballed, with less flying hours than some of our still flying B-52's. During the Cold War years, this went on all the time. It is facinating to imagine the F-22's, and all their tech advances, flying along side the Bear Bombers.


We recently pulled a B-52 out of the "boneyard" and it's back on status.


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## AWP (Jul 7, 2015)

Russian aircraft make a Yugo look like a BMW. They are a tad frightening on the inside.


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## walra107 (Jul 7, 2015)

^^^One of the intercepting pilots. I believe his callsign is Maverick...


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## walra107 (Jul 7, 2015)

...and this one just because...


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## Red Flag 1 (Jul 7, 2015)

DA SWO said:


> We recently pulled a B-52 out of the "boneyard" and it's back on status.



They are a great air platform for longrange bombing missions, but others as well. I am waiting for the day when they pull a B-17 out of storeage and find a mission for it to fill. Read that, as a mission not making it an orange drone.


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## AWP (Jul 8, 2015)

Red Flag 1 said:


> They are a great air plantform for longrange bombing missions, but others as well. I am waiting for the day when they pull a B-17 out of storeage and find a mission for it to fill. Read that, as a mission not making it an orange drone.



Sadly, that's a dwindling number and B-29's are even worse. One airworthy and one soon to be airworthy...and the rest are museum pieces.
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b29registry/b29registry.html


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## SpitfireV (Jul 9, 2015)

DA SWO said:


> I fault the AF for not releasing current videos/photos of the intercept.  You can't tell me those pilots are not taking cell phone/gopro videos of the intercepts.



They should be taking official photos...standard practise in the Olden Times.


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## AWP (Jul 15, 2015)

I stumbled across this and thought it was interesting. Basically, the Russians are flying more than normal which leads to more accidents.

For Russia, another bomber crash



> The Russian defense ministry said that the bomber crashed outside the city of Khabarovsk due to a technical malfunction. While the entire crew bailed out, two members apparently died when they hit the ground.
> 
> The entire fleet of the TU-95MSs has since been grounded.
> 
> On July 6th, a SU-24 also crashed outside of Khabarvosk killing its two-man crew. Aside from the SU-24 crash, the Russians have lost two MiG 29s, an SU-34 and another TU-95 all in the last month. All the crashes have been non-combat related.



Two bombers, two fighters, and two attack aircraft. In a sense, the intercepts are a good thing, extra wear and tear on the fleet.


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