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For those who think Canada doesn't need an airforce:
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: |
Russian planes intercepted near N.L.
1 hour, 29 minutes ago
ST..JOHNS (CBC) - Canadian F-18 fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers 450 kilometres east of Labrador Wednesday.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed the long-range bombers made several attempts to probe Canadian airspace on Wednesday.
They were met by two fighter jets from Bagotville, Que.
MacKay said the Russians were within the 300 nautical mile buffer zone claimed by Canada, but didn't enter the country's sovereign airspace.
Reports said the fighter jets shadowed the bombers until they turned northeast and headed out of the zone.
MacKay said NORAD fighters have intercepted between 12 and 18 bombers annually since 2007. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | OTTAWA - Canadian fighter jets scrambled to repel Russian bombers that made several attempts to probe Canadian airspace on Wednesday.
QMI Agency has learned that two CF-18s took off from CFB Bagotville to intercept two TU-95 long range bombers about 463 km east of Goose Bay, N.L.
Attempts by Russia to test Canadian airspace have been going on since 2007; military and intelligence analysts tell QMI Agency the frequency has been increasing since then, but one senior official described Wednesday's event as "not the usual s--t."
"The response as always was a rapid, effective deterrent," Defence Minister Peter MacKay told QMI Agency.
"They were in the buffer zone," said MacKay, stressing that although the planes did not enter Canada's sovereign airspace, the bombers did come inside the 300 nautical mile zone that Canada claims.
"They did not give us any advance notice," said MacKay, adding that NORAD fighter jets have intercepted between 12 and 18 Russian bombers per year since 2007. After the CF-18s made contact with the Russians the pilots shadowed them until the bombers turned northeast and headed out of Canadian airspace.
The TU-95 bomber, known as the Bear, is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and may have been loaded with warheads on this trip. One military analyst tells QMI Agency the Russians have been known to fly with nukes on board just to flex their muscle and prove to the world they are still a powerful country.
"We certainly weren't aware of what if any weapons were on board," said MacKay.
Canada is in a race with Russia and other Arctic nations to lay claim to the frozen territory that may hold untold treasures.
Geologists believe the Arctic shelf holds vast stores of oil, natural gas, diamonds, gold and minerals. A 2007 Russian intelligence report predicted that conflict with other Arctic nations is a distinct possibility, including military action "in a competition for resources." The United States, Norway, and Denmark (through Greenland) also lay claim to portions of the Arctic seabed based on their coastal waters.
China, which does not have an Arctic coast, has sent icebreakers and ships into the Arctic Ocean. A Chinese admiral said earlier this year since China has 20% of the world's population, they should have 20% of Arctic resources.
The incursion into Canadian airspace also comes as debate rages over whether Canada needs the next generation of fighter jets to replace the nearly 30-year-old CF 18s. The Harper government has committed to buying 65 F-35 stealth fighters at a cost of $9 billion. Critics have said such Cold War-type jets are no longer needed.
Rob Huebert of the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies tells QMI Agency the Canadian Air Force needs to upgrade its fleet now that Russia is upgrading its bombers.
"The mere fact that the Russians are building the next generation of bombers means that we need something or we need to accept that the Americans will do it for us," Huebert said.
"This is about a Russian military resurgence, the Russians asserting their authority in the north," military analyst Mercedes Stephenson told QMI Agency.
Stephenson says that after the Cold War ended the Russian military was in a shambles but the last few years have seen a lot of money poured into restoring past glories, particularly in the air force.
Asked if he was playing up this Russian incursion to boost support for the F-35 purchase, MacKay said no.
"Surely even the most cynical, partisan person would not suggest that we engineered the visit of a Russian bomber to boost support for our air force," said MacKay.
Previous Russian incursions into Canadian airspace
February 2009: Hours before U.S. President Barack Obama's big visit to Canada, two Russian bombers were intercepted just outside the Canadian Arctic.
Two Canadian CF-18s were dispatched to signal the Russian aircraft to turn back to its own airspace.
The Russians called Canada's reaction "a farce."
General Walter Natynczyk, the chief of the defence staff, said, at the time, sporadic incidences of Russian incursions had started in 2007 after many years of no activity.
August 2008: Canadian jets scrambled during a visit by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Inuvik in the Arctic to intercept an aircraft nearing Canada's airspace.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Russians were unwilling to notify Canada of planned military flights nearing our airspace.
September 2007: Russians boasted that two of their Tu-95 bombers flew along the coasts of Alaska and Canada and returned via the North Pole during a 17-hour flight. They said their flight was accompanied by NATO planes. |
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| jad |
I can't stand guns, tanks, bombers etc.. but these f-35s look so slick.
'Asked if he was playing up this Russian incursion to boost support for the F-35 purchase, MacKay said no.' lol |
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| jester |
The way I see it. We need to start having surface to air missiles. Its not our problem if we shoot down an American or Russian plane. Do not enter our airspace.
Same goes with the seaways. We need more patrols.
Plain and simple.
Canada needs to start working on anti satellite weaponry. Time to have our own star wars system in place. |
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| Shaya007 |
| we need lasers..get on it Jay |
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| Magnetonium |
Jay ... Russians have been doing regular fly-by's ever since the early days of the Cold War. Canadian military establishment is just using that latest episode as a random excuse for this purchase. Military-industrial complex needs clients for its survival, just like America is always fighting a war somewhere and needs new weapons, bombs and planes built ALL THE TIME. Eisenhower warned us about it, and the military industrial complex today is a powerful force, always looking to sell its lethal weapons to someone. Thats why they will always pressure Canadian government into new military spending - even if the current weapons are doing an excellent job.
Russians have never intercepted Canadian airspace, they are just morons trying to look cool and "flexing muscles". Its a lame tactic, pathetic actually, flying those massive bombers right along the Canadian airspace boundary (and far away from Russian base on the other side of the world). |
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| Magnetonium |
Jay has been reading too much of Conservative media as of late. Try the Liberal twist to balance the thought:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...article1658006/
Tories convert Russian-bomber incident into pitch
for expensive new fighter jets
| quote: |
Publicity release boosts Harper plan for updated aircraft and helps government attack Liberal position
The Conservative publicity machine scrambled into action as a common confrontation between Canadian and Russian military planes turned into a campaign for $16-billion in new fighter jets.
The story started on Wednesday when NORAD officials spotted two incoming planes, identified as Russian TU-95 long-range bombers, heading toward Labrador.
The aircraft never entered Canadian territory, which starts 200 nautical miles outside of the land border, but they were clearly within the 300-nautical-mile “buffer zone,” according to Canadian defence officials.
Two CF-18s scrambled out of CFB Bagotville, Que., and started shadowing the Russian planes about 50 nautical miles outside the Canadian territory, until they headed northeast and out of the “area of interest.”
While similar incidents occur 12 to 18 times a year, a story on the confrontation appeared on Friday morning in the Sun Media chain. Within a few hours, the Conservative Party issued talking points on the matter designed to boost the Harper government’s plan to buy Joint Strike Fighter F-35 fighter jets to start replacing the CF-18s in 2017.
“This incident demonstrates why it is vitally important for the Canadian Armed Forces to have the best technology and equipment available,” the Conservative Party said.
The Conservatives went on to attack the Liberal opposition, which has vowed to put the purchase on hold and re-evaluate the CF-18 replacement program if it comes to power.
“Mere days ago, [Liberal Leader] Michael Ignatieff pledged to cancel the new fighter jets the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces urgently need. Embarrassingly for him, Russian bomber flights over the Arctic – just two days ago – underscore why our men and women in uniform need modern equipment to do their jobs,” the Conservative talking points stated.
The Conservative parliamentary secretary for national defence, Laurie Hawn, added on his Twitter account that F-35 critics were “out to lunch.”
The planned F-35 purchase is the subject of heated debate, given that the government is not opening up a tendering process to Lockheed-Martin’s competitors, such as the Boeing SuperHornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
It was revealed this week that an official at the Department of National Defence in Ottawa was suspected of attempting to delete references to the controversy from the Wikipedia website, which is edited by users. An investigation into the use of government computers for partisan purposes has been launched at DND, although the culprit is not expected to be publicly named.
The Liberal Party on Friday applauded Ottawa’s decision to send out the CF-18s, while raising questions over the publicity surrounding the incident with the Russians. The Liberals pointed out that faster two-engine fighter jets might be better equipped than the single-engine F-35 to handle such confrontations.
“The Russians have been doing these incursions routinely ... to see if we are doing our homework,” said Liberal MP Marc Garneau, a former military man and astronaut.
“What I find surprising is that the Conservatives are jumping all over this. I think it’s part of their plan to bring attention to their purchase of F-35s.”
Defence Minister Peter MacKay was outraged at the allegation that his government is using a crisis to further its political interests.
“I find it astounding there could be any suggestion that we would manufacture Russians approaching our airspace. That’s bordering on ludicrous,” he said.
Mr. MacKay said the Russian airplanes had flown more than 40 hours, necessitating in-air refuelling, and had not provided advance notice of their arrival.
“This is something we haven’t seen that frequently,” he said.
Russia replied that the flight was a training exercise and that the aircraft didn’t enter Canadian territory.
“We haven’t violated Canadian airspace,” said a Russian official at the embassy in Ottawa. “There is no problem here.”
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| patpicos |
| well i hope the russians fill them bombers with a load of vodka and drop it in ontario. Booze is too expensive here :) |
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| exraver |
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| infinity HiGH |
fear mongering at its best  |
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| rabbitjoker |
"It's only the Sudetenland".
("fear mongering" 1938) |
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| smuncky |
| quote: | Originally posted by exraver
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Rofl! |
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