Video: Fox News – Russia could base nuclear bombers in Cuba July 23, 2008

Russian strategic bombers may soon be deployed at airbases in Cuba, Venezuela and Algeria as a response to the US missile shield in Europe and NATO’s expansion,

Russia Today – Bomber ‘Flight plans’ could spark new Cuban missile crisis – July 23, 2008 – An unidentified source in the Russian military says Moscow could be ready to resume strategic bomber flights over the Caribbean.

It’s claimed the long-range aircraft could refuel at a Cuban aerodrome, The US military has hinted that such a step would cross its ‘red line’ of defence

Fox News – Russia could base nuclear bombers in Cuba July 23, 2008

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Russia could place bombers in Latin America, North Africa
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RIA Novosti
24/ 07/ 2008

http://en. rian. ru/russia/20080724/114821813. html

MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russian strategic bombers may soon be deployed at airbases in Cuba, Venezuela and Algeria as a response to the US missile shield in Europe and NATO’s expansion, Russian daily Izvestia said on Thursday

Moscow has strongly opposed the possible deployment by the US of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and an accompanying tracking radar in the Czech Republic as a threat to its national security.

Washington says the defenses are needed to deter a possible strike from Iran, or other “rogue” states

Moscow has also expressed concern over NATO’s expansion to Russia’s borders and pledged to take “appropriate measures” to counter the US and NATO moves

Izvestia cited sources in the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that crews of Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-95MS Bear strategic bombers recently visited Cuba and conducted an inspection of a site and facilities for a possible forward landing airfield that could be used as a refueling stopover for Russian strategic bombers

Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by former president Vladimir Putin

At present the Russian military is considering the possibility of establishing so-called “jump-up” bases in various regions of the world to provide refueling and maintenance support for the patrolling bombers

“The flight to the US [from southern Russia where the bombers are based] takes about 10 hours and even with two mid-air refuellings the aircraft can spend only 1.5 hours near the US coast,” said Gen.

of the Army Pyotr Deinekin, former commander of the Russian Air Force

The use of forward landing airfields in Latin America would practically erase the time constraints for the Russian bombers and make their presence near the US borders almost permanent, the general said

If a political decision is made, Cuba will most likely host Russian Il-78 aerial tankers, which will provide nuclear-capable strategic bombers with mid-air refueling, sources in the Defense Ministry told Izvestia

Both Tu-160 and Tu-95MS bombers have been recently modernized and fitted with new X-555 cruise missiles with a range of over 3,500 km (2,200 miles).

Therefore, the bombers do not have to be permanently based near the US borders to hit any target on US territory in case of a potential conflict (Image Gallery)

In the meantime, the bombers may be primarily used to spy on the United States using electronic means, much like the former Russian SIGINT station at Lourdes near Havana, which was closed in 2002

However, another Russian publication, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, said on Thursday that the ambitious plans of Russian politicians and some military commanders may be nothing more than “saber-rattling in empty air”

The prospect of maintaining refueling posts for Russian bombers all over the world would require an enormous amount of investment in construction of infrastructure, fuel supplies and re-supplies

The Russian defense budget simply does not have sufficient resources to ensure the implementation of these plans, the newspaper said

Russian bombers with nuclear missiles on board policing the globe would only harm Russia’s image in the international arena, and it is unlikely that their presence near the US borders will scare the Americans

The US military consider long-range bombers an obsolete and highly vulnerable component of the nuclear triad.

The Pentagon stopped strategic bomber patrols almost two decades ago