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Sérgio Santana *
As has been common in recent years, when the thefts of Russian military planes became frequent after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the two strategic bombers Tupolev Tu-160 "Blackjack "The RF-94108" Vladimir Sudets "and RF-94102" Vladimir Reshetnikov ") landed yesterday at Simón Bolívar International Airport, Venezuela, a few kilometers from the center of their capital, Caracas, event mentioned right here.
After Takeoff At the end of Sunday's day, several NATO country interceptors reached their destination: two Lockheed Martin F-16 from the Royal Norwegian Air Force who were took off from Bodø air base at 0:45, followed by two more FGA.4 of Eurofighter Typhoon operated by the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom, which were launched from the Lossiemouth Air Base at 2:25 am and refueled. flight by an Airbus A-330 Voyager, which took off from Brize Norton Air Force Base. It should be noted that the typhoon took off air-to-air MBDA Meteor missiles for the first time in an "Alpha" drive when the invaders are real.
In addition to "Blackjack", which is part of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Division stationed at Engels' 6950th Air Base, the surrounding area also consisted of a quadrilateral RA "86" Ilyushin He-62M. "And another transport Antonov Il-124" Condor ", records" RA-82035 ", which departed from Chkalovsky Air Base, a few kilometers from Moscow, a few hours before the Tu-160 and making separate routes between them bombers, with a clear intention to confuse the European anti-aircraft defenses.
Same fate, but times are different
This is the third time in ten years that Venezuela receives a "visit" to Blackjack The first took place in September 2008, followed by another such mission in November 2013, when IAI Kfir interceptors from the Colombian Air Force intercepted the bombers.
Meanwhile, for Russia and Venezuela at the time are the others.In early 2014, the Russian government annexed Crimea after having withdrawn from the domination of the country. Ukraine, which has since tightened relations with Western powers to the point of having participated in a joint exercise with NATO, the "Clear Sky". 2018, "which occurred between 10 and 19 October and which did not please the Moscow Government insofar as it seized a few days later Ukrainian vessels in the Black Sea on the grounds that they would have entered the Russian territorial waters, in an act that clearly did not have the typical movement of a seizure of naval means, because it was a question of Sukhoi Su-25 "Frogfoot" attack aircraft and Kamov Ka-52 "Hokum-B" aggressively crossing the Kerch Strait and landing special forces Mil Mi-8 helicopter "Hip" in one locality While this brief badysis is being prepared, the US Navy is preparing to send a ship to the Black Sea, which is another stage of tension with Russia.
On the Venezuelan side , the interval between the visit of the Tu-160 to the year 2013 and the current have seen the deterioration of conditions economic and political internal and external, so that the country has attracted the attention of the world by the violent repression of the government against popular protests in the face of the crisis (attributed to "US imperialism") and s & # 39, is involved in a border dispute with Colombia, his enemy enemy, which resulted in the loss of one of the 24 Venezuelans "Flanker-G" Sukhoi Su-30MK2V and their crew in September 2015, after the outbreak at night to contain a possible invasion of the country's airspace by Colombian aircraft. The speed with which the Venezuelan authorities explained the accident (attributed to spatial disorientation followed by a controlled collision episode in the field, best known in the aviation industry under the acronym CFIT, Controlled Flight Into Terrain) was at the origin of endless debates on the network.
Recently, the administration of President Donald Trump openly discussed the possibility of a military intervention in Venezuela to overthrow the government of Nicolás Maduro and "restore democracy" in what was already supporting the statements of the Army General in the Hamilton Mourão Reserve, elected vice chairman of the board of directors of Jair Bolsonaro, according to which "our next peace force will be in Venezuela", himself former military attaché of the country between 2002 and 2004.
As a result, the shipment to Venezuela of two nuclear-armed bombers have a mere job capacity five days after President Maduro regained his confr to reinforce the message that the Venezuelan government is not alone if the reinforcement of its defense becomes necessary (it has been reported that Russian planes went to Venezuela to participate in an exercise c and to prove that the armed forces of the Russian Federation may be an air threat to the Caribbean, as is the United States for the Black Sea.
The presence of the Tu-160: direct strategic involvement for Venezuela
Although it is widely accepted that the Cold War is a thing of the last century or that China has occupied the place of the world. Soviet Union extinguished or Russian Federation. As a pretender of the United States, the advent of "Blackjack" in Venezuela shows that we are witnessing a movement typical of the hottest moments of the cold war.
However, after the joint exercise, the Russian contingent will return home and Venezuela will tend to be even more defined by its already numerous opponents and supporters of an invasion of its territory by the US government as "a oil-rich country under the rule of a dictator who not only welcomed Russian military forces, but also participated in joint training with them ", which in itself already increases the mistrust of them generated by Nicolás Maduro's government.
Thus, there is a risk that the man of military works such as these have an effect contrary to that sought with the presence of a plane of the clbad "Blackjack": a further increase Trump's largest administration compared to Venezuela on the pretext of eliminating the increased threat represented by bombers with nuclear capabilities, which could lead to a US-led invasion with a "humanitarian justification".
In this perspective, the presence of the Tu-160 in Venezuela creates a sense of security and protection whose effects are purely psychological.
As provided for in these cases, the defense agreements between Venezuela and the Russian Federation are not fully in force. However, according to what is known of such pacts, they do not cover the direct action of Russian troops or equipment to the rescue of Venezuelans, but are limited to the exchange of information. Information and the maximum exchange of military pilots. In view of this, however, it is not impossible for the Russian military to act directly alongside their Venezuelan counterparts or even to take a seat at the headquarters of "Flanker-G".
And if …
The presence of aircraft like the Tu-160 "Blackjack" in countries like Venezuela (considering that joint exercises involving aircraft of their size and even more of their stay in foreign territory are very rare) naturally
However, it is necessary to recall that the displacement of "Blackjacks" even near Venezuela in a conflict scenario requires many actions on the part of the government.
According to the publication on Russian strategic nuclear forces (Mbadachussets Institute of Technology Press, 2007), the degree of preparation of nuclear bombers The Russians are raised in a period of tension, but the order to this effect is issued only by the Chiefs of Staff, after which the one of the units of the VKS called (Vozdushno-Kosmicheskiye Sily, Aerospace Force) now strengthens the command centers. If the tension increases, these forces increase further and the planes leave their peacetime airbase at the dispersion aerodromes. If the level of tension continues to rise, ground crews are encouraged to remove cruise missiles from their shelters near bases, refuel them, determine their flight structure, perform checks and carry missiles. on the bombers. and prepare them for takeoff, with garrison crews at stations where they can stay up to one hour. The order to use nuclear weapons is preceded by the order to load the missiles into the bombers and the take-off order and can be transmitted again to the ground or in flight. After the transmission of the order, the bombers must follow their objectives and reach the launching points, which will be blocked in case the aircraft could not reach.
Clearly, each of these stages, as is also the case in other nuclear powers, is liable to be accompanied by potential enemies by satellites, electronic intelligence and intelligence equipment. of communication, as well as by field agents infiltrating the places of interest.
Such a surveillance network, even in the event of unsuccessful success (and recalling that we are talking about a conflict situation), will result in one or more interception systems for bombers such as "Blackjack"; However, it was common for the Tu-160 and even for the slower bombers, such as the Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear", to operate on a set of aircraft, which includes interceptors Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-31 "Foxhound",
Finally, even though it does not need to reach a suicide range from the North American territory to launch its nuclear missiles (twelve nuclear cruise missiles Raduga Kh-55SM, with a range of 3,500 km and a warhead of 200 kilotons or Raduga Kh-101, with a range of up to 5,000 km, but with a nuclear warhead of 250 kilotons, both weapons being loaded internally in two six-handed launchers), a Tu-160 in an attack mission against this objective, it is necessary to overcome the generally designated barriers in conflict situations, such as no-fly zones and zones. of Air Defense Identification (ZIDA), this also exists in peacetime and whose function is to monitor air traffic for the benefit of national security; its extent varies according to the convenience of each country, extending beyond its territorial sea and its airspace adjacent to the international airspace. For example, the ZIDA located about 370 km from the coast surrounds Alaska [3709007] In recent years, a number of strategic Russian bomber training flights have been banned in the US ZIDA.
Be that as it may, for example. As stated, supporting the Venezuelan defense with a Tu-160 flight in times of conflict is far from an easy task.
* Bachelor in Aeronautical Sciences (University of Southern Santa Catarina – UNISUL). Researcher of the Core of Studies Society, Security and Citizenship (UNISUL). Postgraduate degree in Aeronautical Maintenance Engineering (Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais – PUC / MG). Author of books on intelligence aircraft / surveillance / reconnaissance. The only Brazilian regular contributor to the Air Forces Monthly publications, Combat Aircraft and Aviation News.
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