While the World’s space establishment gets to grips with worsening relations between Russia and the West over Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine, there was a hint of its military power given by Russia in April. NATO air force jet fighters including those of the Royal Air Force have been scrambled to intercept Russian Tupolev Tu-95 (Bear-H) long range maritime strike bombers as they cruised the sea off Northern Scotland.
Apart from carrying its own weaponry including cruise missiles, bombs and torpedoes, aircraft are often used in conjunction with satellites, to identify targets for ship and submarine cruise missiles to attack.
Comment by David Todd: The appearance of such aircraft was also a hint was also to the UK’s Ministry of Defence that it may have cut its own defences too much as it prematurely retired the Royal Navy’s Sea Harrier FA-2 fighter jets and the RAF’s own equivalent to the Bear-H, the Nimrod maritime surveillance aircraft, which could also act as a long range bomber.
