On 8th Aug, Russian Cold War-era Tu-95 bombers have been intercepted.
The incident happened over arctic Beaufort Sea’s international air space, north of
Alaskan and Canadian coasts.
As per reports, a pair of USAF F-22 Raptors and two Canadian Forces CF-18s conducted the
intercept.
These were supported by a USAF E-3 Sentry AWACS, USAF KC-135 Stratotanker and C-130 tanker.
All these aircraft are under the control of North American Aerospace DefenseCommand or NORAD.
Viewers may note that NORAD is a combined organization of the United States and Canada
that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Northern America
In this video Defense Updates reports on F 22 & CF-18 intercepting Tu 95 Bear bombers.
Let's get started
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Aircraft navigating close to rival's border in peacetime is common.
These exercises are generally aimed at collecting data regarding the enemy’s air defense,
to update tactical maps as well as to check the rival's reaction time.
The information is cataloged for future use and can help the commanders to plan a war
strategy in case a conflict breaks out.
These missions are also conducted to assess own readiness and capabilities.
Both Russia and America undertake this type of exercise several times a year for different regions.
There is no reason to believe that the Russian had anything different in mind this time.
The “Air Defense Identification Zone” or ADIZ where the intercept happened in international
airspace extends 200 miles from the U.S./Canadian coastline.
The airspace is always monitored for security reasons.
U.S. territorial airspace begins only 12 miles from the coastline.
As per reports, the Russian aircraft stayed well clear of the 12-mile U.S. air space limit
during the encounter.
It is interesting to note that this is note the first time this kind of encounter has
happened.
Only a week ago, radar surveillance had picked up two Russian aircraft when they entered
the ADIZ.
At that time they were not intercepted.
Before this, another confrontation had occurred in May when Russian aircraft entered the ADIZ
for two consecutive days.
NORAD Commander Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy stated, “NORAD’s top priority is defending
Canada and the United States.
NORAD operators identified and intercepted the Russian aircraft flying near our nations.”
He added, “Whether responding to violators of restricted airspace domestically or identifying
and intercepting foreign military aircraft, NORAD is on alert 24 hours a day, seven days
a week, 365 days a year.”
The Tupolev Tu-95 also named as “Bear” in the West is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered
strategic bomber and missile platform.
The bomber was designed by Tupolev aerospace and defense company.
First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Soviet Union in 1956 and is expected
to serve the Russian Aerospace Forces until at least 2040.
It is powered by 4 Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop engine.
The aircraft can fly at a maximum speed of 516 mph or 830 km/h and has a range of 15,000
km or 9,321 mi.
It can carry unto 15,000 kg or 33,000 lb of weapons.
The Tu-95 has also seen many upgrades that include better avionics, sensors, and weapons
package.
The latest modernization of the bombers provided it with the ability to carry Kh-101/102 stealth
cruise missile.
This upgrade saw the installation of four underwing pylons for up to 8 Kh-101/102 cruise
missiles as well as adjusting aircraft's main weapons bay for cruise missiles of size the
Kh-101/102
The Kh-101 missile is an air-launched low radar cross-section missile.
Kh-102 is a nuclear version.
The Kh-101 has a 400 kg or 880 lb high-explosive, penetrating, or cluster warhead and the Kh-102
has a 250 kT nuclear warhead.
The missile has a maximum speed of around Mach 0.8 and is estimated to have a range
of around 1250 miles or 2,000 km
The CF-18 Hornet is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) fighter aircraft, based on the American
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter.
F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather, carrier-capable, multirole combat
jet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft.
In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New Fighter Aircraft Project competition,
and a production order was awarded.
Canada was the first export customer for the Hornet and replaced the CF-104 Starfighter
meant for air reconnaissance and strike, the McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo meant for air interception
and the CF-116 Freedom Fighter meant for ground attack.
The Canadian Forces began receiving the CF-18 in 1982.
The original CF-18 as delivered is largely identical to the F/A-18A and B models.
A total of 80 CF-18s, consisting of 62 single-seat and 18 dual-seat models, were delivered.
Many features that made the F/A-18 suitable for naval carrier operations were retained
by the Canadian Forces, such as the robust landing gear, the arrestor hook, and wing
folding mechanisms.
F 22 is still the most potent fighter jet in the world even though more than 2 decades
have passed since the first one was produced.
It is to be noted that even today F 22 can’t be exported to any country as per American
Federal Law which is a stark contrast to other fighters including the F 35.
F 22 Raptor is the first operational aircraft to combine supercruise and super-maneuverability.
Supercruise is the ability to have sustained supersonic flight without having to use the
highly inefficient afterburners.
With this F 22 can intercept targets which subsonic aircraft would lack the speed to
pursue and an afterburner-dependent aircraft would lack the fuel to reach.
F 22 incorporates super-maneuverability which makes it a capable dogfighter.
In AN/APG-77 radar, F 22 possess the most powerful sensor ever mounted on a fighter.
It has a range of around 400 km against 1 m2 target.
The radar changes frequencies more than 1,000 times per second to resist jamming and have
Low Probability of Intercept meaning that the enemy has no warning that a radar lock
has been achieved against it.
F 22 Raptor is developed from grounds up to be stealthy.
F22 is the stealthiest fighter ever build & has very low RCS (Radar Cross Section) of
only 0.0001 m2.
It can be armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder & AIM-120 AMRAAM air to air missions.
Tu-95 is a fairly large aircraft and has no stealth characteristics.
This makes it hard for the aircraft to penetrate well-defended airspace.
Tu-95’s upgrade was meant to address this and this is where Kh-101/102 missiles come in.
Kh-101/102 missiles provide it with the ability to hit targets from standoff distances.
So, though pretty old, still Tu-95 is actually a potent adversary.
CF-18 Hornet and F 22 Raptor are versatile fighters and once detected, Tu-95 has no chance
against these especially since both of these can carry AIM-120D.
The AIM-120D is the latest development of the AMRAAM missile family designed and built
by Raytheon.
It includes a two-way data link, superior navigation through GPS-enhanced Inertial Measurement
Unit, much larger no escape zone, improved high-angle off-boresight capability and is
thought to have a range of more than 105 miles or 167 km.
The missile will have no problem in locking on to an aircraft like Tu 95 which has large
Radar returns.
It is safe to assume that in wartime, the Tu-95s will be escorted by Russian fighters.