US general: Russian long-range bombers are 'messaging' the US with provocative flights

(Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)Russian Tu-95 bombers fly during a joint Kazakh-Russian military exercise at Otar military range, some 150km (93 miles) west of Almaty, October 3, 2008. Russia is using its long-range bomber fleet to "message" the US about Moscow's international military capabilities, the US general in charge of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said. 

Defense News reports Adm. Bill Gortney told reporters on April 7 that Russian long-range bombers are increasingly flying close to the US in order to send a message to the US and make Russian presence felt.

The number of Russian bomber run incidents has steadily increased since a flare up in Russian-US tensions after Moscow's annexation of Crimea in March 2014. 

"They are messaging us. They are messaging us that they are a global power," Gortney said, while noting that the US does "the same sort of thing" to Russia in Europe. 

Military messaging and posturing has become a common Russian strategy. Russian bombers and fighters have increasingly started flying over the Baltics in Europe and off the coast of Japan — often with transponders turned off.

The flights themselves, while not military significant, are intended to function as political statements highlighting Russia's growing power and international clout. 

"These flights do not have any real military significance,"  Tom Nichols, a professor at the US Naval War College and a senior associate at the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, told BI. "They are political demonstrations, provocations by the Russians meant to show the Europeans that NATO cannot and will not defend them."

Gortney insisted that NORAD was fully aware of Russian actions. 

"We watch very carefully what they are doing," Gortney said. "They are adhering to international standards that are required by all airplanes that are out there, and everybody is flying in a professional manner in their side and our side as we watch very closely."

In general, most Russian aircraft are spotted outside of the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

(Wikipedia)The Alaska Air Defense ZoneSince the annexation of Crimea, the number of Russian military flights close to the ADIZ has increased slightly, but the wider cause for concern is the increasing sophistication of these flights, Alaska Dispatch News reports citing the deputy commander of the Alaska NORAD region. 

"We are seeing more complexity in flight activity," Col. Patrick Carpentier told Alaska Dispatch News. "The Russians have made no secret they are ... making a lot of headway in modernizing their weapons."