The Russian military command seems to have learned the lessons of the Iraq war
The Russian military command seems to have learned the lessons of the Iraq war and now plans to demonstrate the USA and its allies the whole of Russia's resolve to strike back against any potential threat from the West, the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports. The newspaper says that as soon as NATO Secretary General George Robertson leaves the Russian capital, Moscow will immediately launch the largest military exercises it has seen in years. During the exercises, the newspaper says, Russian strategic bombers and submarine missile-carriers will simulate nuclear attacks against several military targets on the territory of the USA and Great Britain. They will also work on searching for and liquidating US Navy aircraft carriers transporting attack squadrons.
It was expected that Russia's Air Force commander-in-chief, Colonel-General Vladimir Mikhailov, will submit the plan fir the exercises for the approval of the Minister of Defense Sergey Ivanov today. Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports that the exercises are based on a scenario in which a regional conflict develops into a war.
During the exercises, the Russian troops will work on a series of training missions aimed at disabling the US' orbital surveillance satellites. This is important to order to disrupt the stable operation of the NAVSTAR global positioning system, optoelectronic surveillance Keyhole satellites and radar reconnaissance LaCross satellites. The Russian newspaper reports that, under wartime conditions, these actions might be able to blind the Pentagon and interfere with its usage of high-precision weapons against Russia's armed forces.
The exercises are scheduled for May 17-18. Four Tu-160 strategic bombers, nine Tu-95MC strategic bombers, 12 long-range Tu-22M3 bombers and four Il-78 refueling ships will participate in the exercises.
According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the commander of the 37th aviation unit, Major-General Igor Khvorov, says that the main objective of the exercises is to polish up cooperation of long-range aviation with the Navy and other groups of military personnel.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
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