The show of force between the United States and Russia continued to heat up as they conducted power projections in the air and on land around the freezing Arctic region.
The series of military power demonstrations came as the Ocean-2024, a strategic Russian exercise, was underway across the country’s waters in the north, east and west as well as the Mediterranean Sea. The Russian military also joined a Chinese drill in the Far East.
Last week, the U.S. and Russia sent their bombers, capable of launching nuclear weapons, to Northern Europe and Northeastern Asia, involving five groups of aircraft in three days.
Two Russian Tu-142 “Bear F” maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft fly during the Ocean-2024 strategic exercise involving warships of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and China in the Sea of Japan.
Two Russian Tu-142 “Bear F” maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft fly during the Ocean-2024 strategic exercise involving warships of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and China in the Sea of Japan.
Vitaliy Ankov/Sputnik via AP
The Arctic rivalry is part of the great-power competition defined by Washington as it faces a rising China and a revisionist Russia concurrently. The quasi-alliance between Moscow and Beijing sent nuclear-capable bombers to circle the U.S. coast off Alaska in July.
Since the September 10 beginning of Ocean-2024, which ended on Monday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) reported four incidents of Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
NORAD is a U.S.-Canada command charged with North America’s aerospace warning, including detection, validation and warning of attack. ADIZ is an international airspace where tracking and identification of aircraft are required for national security purposes.
Each of the four incidents, which occurred on September 11, 13, 14 and 15, involved at least a pair of Russian military aircraft, including Tu-142 “Bear F” and Il-38 “May” maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, according to NORAD.
The command said Russian military activities in the Alaska ADIZ occurred on a regular basis and were not viewed as a threat as the aircraft remained within international airspace. U.S. fighter jets assigned to NORAD conducted an intercept during the first incident.
NORAD did not specify the operating area of the Russian military aircraft in the Alaska ADIZ. The air defense zone covers a large area of airspace over the waters around Alaska, including the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea.
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on September 15, a Russian Tu-160 “Blackjack” bomber conducts flight operations over the East Siberian Sea.
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on September 15, a Russian Tu-160 “Blackjack” bomber conducts flight operations over the East Siberian Sea.
Russian defense ministry
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on September 15 that two Tu-95MS “Bear-H” bombers and two Tu-160 “Blackjack” bombers—both nuclear-capable—flew over the Chukchi Sea and the East Siberian Sea, respectively, during Ocean-2024.
The two seas are the marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, where the bombers conducted trainings that simulated the launching of cruise missiles on an enemy’s “critical facilities.”
According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, each Tu-160 can carry up to 12 air-launched cruise missiles, while the Tu-95MS can arm with six to 14 cruise missiles.
Responding to the increasing Russian military activity near Alaska, two U.S. Air Force B-52H “Stratofortress” bombers flew to the Arctic Ocean region near Alaska on September 14 and 15, according to flight data provided by the aircraft tracking service Flightradar24.
The American bombers were operated out of Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana for the round-trip Arctic mission. There are 76 “Stratofortress” bombers in operation, but only 46 of them can deliver air-launched cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads.
Tracking data showed that a third “Stratofortress” was also deployed with the rest of the two bombers. But it returned to Barksdale during the outbound flight from the base.
The U.S. Air Force also deployed two of its three RC-135S “Cobra Ball” reconnaissance aircraft to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska on September 10 and 16, respectively. They specialize in collecting optical and electronic data on ballistic missile targets.
In this undated photo posted on Facebook on September 9, three U.S. Air Force RC-135S “Cobra Ball” aircraft are on deck together for the first time in four years at Offutt Air Force Base in…
In this undated photo posted on Facebook on September 9, three U.S. Air Force RC-135S “Cobra Ball” aircraft are on deck together for the first time in four years at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
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Offutt Air Force Base
X, formerly Twitter, user MeNMyRC, who tracks the “Cobra Ball,” said both aircraft would be on call to collect measurement and signature intelligence from an upcoming Russian intercontinental ballistic missile test to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East.
However, the Russian military has yet to announce a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment by email.
Cobra Ball 62-4128 as Cobra-28 is outbound from Offutt and headed for Elmendorf where it will join 61-2662. Both aircraft will be on call to collect MASINT from upcoming ICBM testing to the Kura Impact Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. This will be the first operational… pic.twitter.com/9Dnlt7cHCC
— MeNMyRC (@MeNMyRC1) September 16, 2024
Two other types of special-purpose aircraft were also deployed to Elmendorf Air Force Base. A RC-135V “Rivet Joint,” capable of detecting, identifying and geolocating signals, arrived on September 10 and flew to the northwest coast of Alaska three days later.
Also on September 10, a WC-135R “Constant Phoenix” made a round-trip to Elmendorf. It is primarily used for air sampling and collection to detect and identify nuclear explosions.
The above three types of aircraft were developed from the C-135 “Stratolifter” transport jet. They are stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and operated by the 55th Wing.
On the ground, three U.S. Army units deployed to Shemya Island in Alaska on September 12. Closer to Russia than to mainland Alaska, the remote island is 280 miles from the nearest Russia-owned island in the area. It is near the western end of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
The deployment involved the 11th Airborne Division and the 1st and 3rd Multi-Domain Task Forces as part of a force projection operation. The Army worked with the Air Force to move its soldiers and equipment to the remote location in the North Pacific Ocean.
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 11th Airborne Division board a U.S. Air Force C-17 “Globemaster III” transport aircraft for a force projection operation to Shemya Island, Alaska, on September 11.
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 11th Airborne Division board a U.S. Air Force C-17 “Globemaster III” transport aircraft for a force projection operation to Shemya Island, Alaska, on September 11.
U.S. Air Force/Airman 1st Class Hunter Hites
Major General Joseph Hilbert, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, said the operation was in response to increasing adversarial exercises around Alaska and throughout the region, including the joint bomber patrol carried out by Russia and China.
“The operation to Shemya Island demonstrates the division’s ability to respond to events in the Indo-Pacific or across the globe, with a ready, lethal force within hours,” he said.
The Alaska-based unit, which is also known as the “Arctic Angels,” defends the increasingly competitive Arctic. The accelerating impacts of climate change have made the icy region more accessible to others, the 11th Airborne Division said in a news release.
For the Multi-Domain Task Forces, they were created by the Army to better address the Russian and Chinese threats to U.S. national security and designed to synchronize precision effects to support freedom of action of U.S. forces against adversaries.
The forces are also capable of operating in air, land, water, space, cyber and information domain environments by employing new operational concepts, technologies and weapons.
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force set up communication systems for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System as part of the 11th Airborne Division’s force projection operation to Shemya Island, Alaska, on…
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force set up communication systems for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System as part of the 11th Airborne Division’s force projection operation to Shemya Island, Alaska, on September 12.
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Spc. Brandon Vasquez/U.S. Army
The 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, which is based in the state of Washington, deployed at least two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems on Shemya Island. The weapon can fire up to six rockets or a single missile known as the Army Tactical Missile System.
The small island hosts a major U.S. military installation in the region—the Cobra Dane radar. It has a primary role of collecting data on foreign ballistic missiles during their flights and is capable of tracking 200 targets at a time and providing information to NORAD.
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Publish date : 2024-09-17 20:00:00
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