Russia, the Bear Awakens

One of the greatest legacies of the Ronald Reagan era was the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union. An outstanding achievement for a country that never officially fired a shot during the Cold War. But what if the Soviet Union is not actually dead, but suffering from a self-inflicted identity crisis and is currently playing possum?

Consider the following -

Russian military planes flew undetected through the U.S. zone of the Arctic Ocean to Canada during recent military exercises, a senior Air Force commander said Saturday. The commander of the country's long-range strategic bombers, Lieutenant General Igor Khvorov, said the U.S. Air Force is now investigating why its military was unable to detect the Russian bombers. "They were unable to detect the planes either with radars or visually," he said.

Silly me, I thought that the Almighty United States was unable to be surprised, out-foxed or beaten. The article continues:

Khorov said that during the military exercises in April, Tu-160 Blackjack bombers and Tu-95 Bears had successfully carried out four missile launches. Bombing exercises were held using Tu-22 Blinders.

Both new planes will incorporate numerous upgrades from the initial Soviet models, the commander said. The bombers will be able to launch both cruise missiles and aviation bombs, and communicate via satellite.

The Real Effect
So, several Russian planes slip inside of U.S. radar and stage 4 missile launches, undetected. Big deal right? Let's take note of a few facts:

1. The TU-160 Blackjack is capable of carrying 12 Raduga Kh-55 cruise missiles or 12 Raduga Kh-15 short-range nuclear missiles. And those little nuclear puppies can move at up to Mach 5 although they have a short range of about 180 miles.
2. Russia currently possesses 14 TU-160 bombers with 2 more to be operational by the end of the year for a total of 16 TU-160's.
3. According to payload specifications, the Tu-95 Bear is capable of carrying 1 Raduga Kh-20 nuclear warhead.

Let's play pretend for a moment. The American military just had several nuclear warheads play peek-a-boo. Following the numbers presented, Russia is capable of putting well over 200 nuclear warheads into American targets. If a similar exercise is held and Russia decides to go live, most of the west coast and several key
command facilities have just been obliterated.

With China backing up Russia and both countries in bed with Iran, please explain to me how taking on the Persian empire is a wise move?

For the record, I do believe that Russia and China are very real and deadly military threats and that the last 17 years of diplomacy are nothing more than an attempt to lure the American people an military into a compromised position in order that they may easily secure dominance.

Look for Russia and China to block the U.S. led Iran sanctions leading the U.S. to impose it's own economic sanctions. Yet, Iran is not in any mood or position to be pressured by anyone, let alone the Great Satan. After this will follow some type of provocation that is tied to or directly the result of Iran's actions. This in turn enrages the "International Community" which sees no other option but to 'deal with Iran'.

The problem then becomes that Russia and China, two enormous militaries, are tied at the hip to Iran. They will perceive this as a direct threat and will most likely launch an invasion against the United States and Israel.

Edited for appearance and labels on 5/4/2010.