PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii: The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said Russian bombers never got within 300 miles (500 kilometers) of Guam this week and did not fly over the U.S. territory as a Russian air force general claimed.Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard disputed that U.S. fighters intercepted the bombers. The admiral said the Russian aircraft never got close enough to the Pacific island or the massive U.S. military exercises being held nearby, to warrant such action.
"U.S. planes went to an orbit point in preparation for an intercept that never occurred because the Bears didn't get close enough," Willard said in an interview Thursday using a slang term [not; 'Bear' is the NATO Reporting Name for the TU-95; the fact that 'Bear' begins with a 'B' tells one that the TU-95 is a bomber] for the Russian planes. [SNIP]
The U.S. military is currently holding large-scale war games in waters and air space near Guam. The "Valiant Shield" drills are among the largest U.S. military exercises held anywhere in the world, involving over 22,000 troops, more than 30 ships and some 275 planes.Whether it happened or not, the Russians merely wanted to plant the idea that it had--just like they did in the "good old days." As a friend of mine said today in email, this story, true or not, serves as propaganda to feed its people--and its former adversaries--the notion that Russia is, again, "a superpower with global influence."Willard, a former Navy fighter pilot and aircraft carrier commander, said Russian air forces have not tried to push their way in to watch U.S. carrier training much recently. But he said it was something that happened often in the days of the Soviet Union.
