Bear in the air

[Mojocvh]

Dr Jekyll said:

johnymac said:

Squawk1066 said:

Aeropilot,

Last year I visited FOUR very active front line bases here in the UK-

RAF Coningsby
RAF Marham
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lossiemouth

Coningsby and Lossiemouth handle 'Q' roles, with armed jets on full alert at both bases around the clock. RAF Lakenheath do 'Baltic Policing', and the Marham crews have been sticking it to the terrorists overseas. Yeah, we are doomed.

4 is not 2.

Surely this isn't all we have is it in the way of interceptor aircraft?

Yes it is.

two air defence bases..

You would also be surprised to hear that the GR Tornado fleet has been at "war" for over 30 years, continuously, and you would be very surprised to learn where numbers of them are sitting right now just......

.....waiting...

[davepoth]

The capability of the Typhoon is much higher than the older generations of fighters, which means we don't need quite so many to do the job of flying alongside the Bears. AIUI it only took two flights to cover them all the way around the UK coast - any idea how many lightnings that would have been? I'm guessing a few more.

But if they did decide to actually attack, we'd be screwed. We probably don't even own as many air-to-air missiles as they have bombers.

[Dr Jekyll]

Mojocvh said:

, and you would be very surprised to learn where numbers of them are sitting right now just......

.....waiting...

Go on then...

[wokkadriver]

Mojocvh said:

You would also be surprised to hear that the GR Tornado fleet has been at "war" for over 30 years, continuously, and you would be very surprised to learn where numbers of them are sitting right now just......

.....waiting...

"At War" is a bit of a bold statement - sitting and waiting? Hardly charging stark-naked at Jerry, is it?

[frodo_monkey]

Well some of us are doing the war thing...

[anonymous-user]

wokkadriver said:

Mojocvh said:

You would also be surprised to hear that the GR Tornado fleet has been at "war" for over 30 years, continuously, and you would be very surprised to learn where numbers of them are sitting right now just......

.....waiting...

"At War" is a bit of a bold statement - sitting and waiting? Hardly charging stark-naked at Jerry, is it?

Easy tiger. You'll be expecting them to live in tents next.

[wokkadriver]

Crossflow Kid said:

Easy tiger. You'll be expecting them to live in tents next.

[Mojocvh]

Dig in/ check in...?

[Yertis]

Mojocvh said:

Dig in/ check in...?

Speak plainly man, this is no place for riddles.

[Hooli]

davepoth said:

But if they did decide to actually attack, we'd be screwed. We probably don't even own as many air-to-air missiles as they have bombers.

This is probably true.

[Dr Jekyll]

Seriously though, what would the drill be if the Bears come right into UK airspace despite being told to keep out?No Russian or Soviet warplane has ever been shot down by NATO so far as I know, though the old Warsaw pact did shopt down a number of aircraft entering their airspace.

[ecsrobin]

Dr Jekyll said:

Seriously though, what would the drill be if the Bears come right into UK airspace despite being told to keep out?No Russian or Soviet warplane has ever been shot down by NATO so far as I know, though the old Warsaw pact did shopt down a number of aircraft entering their airspace.

The procedures are:

Pilot waves his finger whilst tutting over frequency

If no response

Pilot shakes fist whilst swearing over frequency

Still no response

When pilot lands he sends a strongly worded letter to the Russian pilots. Explaining his disappointment.

[Condi]

The Bear first flew in 1952, and entered service in 1956. Its expected to remain in service until 2040, which is an active life of nearly 85 years. Are there any other bits of kit in recent times (ie not swords and shields!) which have been in service that long? Thats like using HMS Hood in a modern naval battle.

[ecsrobin]

Condi said:

The Bear first flew in 1952, and entered service in 1956. Its expected to remain in service until 2040, which is an active life of nearly 85 years. Are there any other bits of kit in recent times (ie not swords and shields!) which have been in service that long? Thats like using HMS Hood in a modern naval battle.

Yep the first B52 flew in 1952 and was in service by 1955 the last rolled off the production line in 1962 85 are still in active service and they too are expected to remain in service until 2040 or later.

[Dr Jekyll]

Condi said:

The Bear first flew in 1952, and entered service in 1956. Its expected to remain in service until 2040, which is an active life of nearly 85 years. Are there any other bits of kit in recent times (ie not swords and shields!) which have been in service that long? Thats like using HMS Hood in a modern naval battle.

Browning M1911 automatics are still in use worldwide, and the design is supposed to date back before 1900. Guns do seem to last indefinitely if looked after so there could be some WW1 weapons still in use.

No doubt a few Lee Enfields are still used in anger.

Not quite recent, but there was a French warship at Waterloo which was captured by the royal navy and used until around 1950. Mainly as a training hulk of course.

Also HMS Caroline, launched 1914 and decommissioned 2011. Not a combat vessel by then, but was used for training so not like HMS Victory.

Plenty of DC3s still around of course. I suspect there will be DC3s flying on the 100th anniversary of the type and probably when the airframes themselves are a 100 years old. Not sure whether they will still be working for a living though.

There is always the AN 2, produced from 1947 to 2002.

The B52 entered service slightly before the Bear, don't know how long they are intended to stay in service for though.

[anonymous-user]

ecsrobin said:

Dr Jekyll said:

Seriously though, what would the drill be if the Bears come right into UK airspace despite being told to keep out?No Russian or Soviet warplane has ever been shot down by NATO so far as I know, though the old Warsaw pact did shopt down a number of aircraft entering their airspace.

The procedures are:

Pilot waves his finger whilst tutting over frequency

If no response

Pilot shakes fist whilst swearing over frequency

Still no response

When pilot lands he sends a strongly worded letter to the Russian pilots. Explaining his disappointment.

.....then tells all his mates about a 4G negative pushover.

[ecsrobin]

Crossflow Kid said:

.....then tells all his mates about a 4G negative pushover.

http://youtu.be/ewzwvAnFFRE I believe one of the chaps who made this was on exchange recently with 18sqn.

Edited by ecsrobin on Saturday 31st January 13:56

[Lost soul]

Wacky Racer said:

One of these days these "games" are going to end in tears.....

Anyone know of a good supplier for Anderson shelters?

This sort of thing has been going on for the last 50 years , you mean to say you do not have an Anderson shelter

[davepoth]

Dr Jekyll said:

Condi said:

The Bear first flew in 1952, and entered service in 1956. Its expected to remain in service until 2040, which is an active life of nearly 85 years. Are there any other bits of kit in recent times (ie not swords and shields!) which have been in service that long? Thats like using HMS Hood in a modern naval battle.

Browning M1911 automatics are still in use worldwide, and the design is supposed to date back before 1900. Guns do seem to last indefinitely if looked after so there could be some WW1 weapons still in use.

No doubt a few Lee Enfields are still used in anger.

Not quite recent, but there was a French warship at Waterloo which was captured by the royal navy and used until around 1950. Mainly as a training hulk of course.

Also HMS Caroline, launched 1914 and decommissioned 2011. Not a combat vessel by then, but was used for training so not like HMS Victory.

Plenty of DC3s still around of course. I suspect there will be DC3s flying on the 100th anniversary of the type and probably when the airframes themselves are a 100 years old. Not sure whether they will still be working for a living though.

There is always the AN 2, produced from 1947 to 2002.

The B52 entered service slightly before the Bear, don't know how long they are intended to stay in service for though.

IIRC the Browning .50cal machine gun is the daddy in this game - the current model entered service before WW2.

[stitchface]

They do this sort of thing ~10 times a year, to various destinations. It only makes the news if they come near the UK. They went down as far as Portugal last year, just to show they can, and the year before that a couple of Blackjacks went all the way to Venezuela. Putin does love flexing.