Russians Over Guam

[B52gator]

Apparently they took a little sight seeing trip around Guam. Nice little "show of force." I have a hard time believing they were armed with "nuclear tipped" missiles though.

https://www.foxnews.c...territory-guam/

The Air Force confirms that two Russian bombers on Tuesday circled the U.S. island territory of Guam, prompting U.S. jets to scramble and respond.

Two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft, operating out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, intercepted the Russian Tu-95 bomber aircrafts, which left in a northbound direction, said military spokeswoman Capt. Kim Bender.

Bender said no further action was taken but declined to give more details, citing security reasons.

The incident occurred shortly before President Obama delivered his State of the Union address, as reported first by The Washington Free Beacon.

The newspaper also said the Russian bombers were equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.

The F-15s were participating in an annual exercise, Cope North, on Andersen AFB. They are stationed at the 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan, the military said.

Pacific Command forces are there to ensure air warning and control over Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. interests in the area. PACOM maintains fighters on alert to respond quickly to any potential air threats within the Pacific area of operations, Bender said.

Read more:

https://www.foxnews.c.../#ixzz2L5Xpm0UW

Edited February 16, 2013 by b52gator

[afnav]

I guess it might be time to dust off some of the old Chrome Dome charts.

[Alpharatz]

Yeah, you could roll a live aboard package onto a C-17.....Load a herd of spare pilots into the back and set them to orbiting over Thule until the motors run out of oil..........RTB Goose...rinse... repeat.....You would have to re-name it "CHROME DRONE"

...........OR I suppose "EQUATOR DRONE".....................

........Who forgot the cards?.......................

[Spinner]

Did you just have a stroke?

[Right Seat Driver]

Yeah, you could roll a live aboard package onto a C-17.....Load a herd of spare pilots into the back and set them to orbiting over Thule until the motors run out of oil..........RTB Goose...rinse... repeat.....You would have to re-name it "CHROME DRONE"

...........OR I suppose "EQUATOR DRONE".....................

........Who forgot the cards?.......................

WTFO! Only BUFFs and tankers should be spoken in the context of Chrome Dome.

[BQZip01]

Gotta admit, this is PERFECT justification for keeping the B-52s. How else could WE fly such missions? Use a B-2? Not so much: use a stealth plane that can't be seen on radar to intimidate a country that won't see it? The B-1? Doesn't really have the legs...and isn't part of the nuclear triad. A Sub? see the B-2. An ICBM? That's one shot that isn't coming back.

[Day Man]

When's the last time we flew a mission like that? (not CBP)

[murdocjxx]

When's the last time we flew a mission like that? (not CBP)

2007.......

"A B-52 bomber flew the length of the United States last week loaded with six nuclear-armed cruise missiles"

https://mostlywater.org/usas_wmd_nuke_armed_b_52_overflies_us_by_mistake

[ThreeHoler]

When's the last time we flew a mission like that? (not CBP)

2012, when a B-52 flew from CONUS to the Middle East and back as part of an exercise.

[Day Man]

Did it fly over countries for "intimidation?" Searched and couldn't find anything...

[SocialD]

2012, when a B-52 flew from CONUS to the Middle East and back as part of an exercise.

Ugh, who drew short straw own that one...

[08Dawg]

https://www.minot.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123305709

We fly stuff like this periodically. I did a 30-hour a while back.

[Bergman]

Ugh, who drew short straw own that one...

It was rough flying tanker support out of the Med...

[M2]

https://www.minot.af....sp?id=123305709

We fly stuff like this periodically. I did a 30-hour a while back.

Wow, Polygone, haven't heard that name for a few years...

And I bet you were happy to get out of Minot for a while. Was up there in August and again in October, and that was enough for me!

[ThreeHoler]

It was rough flying tanker support out of the Med...

It was something like 8 tankers for the whole flight. I think the B-52 had a 36-hr flight round trip.

[08Dawg]

Wow, Polygone, haven't heard that name for a few years...

And I bet you were happy to get out of Minot for a while. Was up there in August and again in October, and that was enough for me!

I was only there for my annual week-long vacation...Minot's like a bad penny, you just can't get rid of it!

[Bergman]

It was something like 8 tankers for the whole flight. I think the B-52 had a 36-hr flight round trip.

Sounds about right. I was the form lead for a three ship and our jets were turned for a two ship later that day.

While it seems like a colossal waste of money...it does prove the point that we are the only AF in the world that can pull stuff like this off (sts) and was actually good training.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Bergman

[Alpharatz]

Did you just have a stroke?

No, I was so shocked by the mention of CHROME DOME that I started to free associate. Actually I always thought of C-D as at least partially a tripwire type operation, not just see the world and never land....Buffs are cool but think of the PIC time you could spread around with a -17.

"is the trim on that thing up for basketball?"

[afnav]

Chrome Dome might be too over the top for some people.

Maybe some highly-publicized exercises flying Black Diamond-style missions over the UTTR.

[10percenttruth]

If continuous bomber presence is on the chopping block with sequestration, we'll be lucky to even talk about chrome dome with a crusty old sim console operator before our quarterly bean hack sim.