Russian bombers flew undetected across Arctic - AF commander

MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) - 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.

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.

By the end of the year, two more Tu-160s will be commissioned for the long-range strategic bomber fleet, Khorov said.

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.

If America secretly flew bombers through recognized Russian air space, wouldn't Russians be up in arms about provocation? Is Russian even capable these days of deciding whether such actions as this are in its interest, or is it just giving vent to dormant hatred of the West at the first opportunity (i.e., the rising world oil prices). Is Russia really prepared to live with the consequences of actions like these? Right now George Bush is the president of the USA and Putin's pal, but Bush will soon be gone. What happens if a liberal democrat concerned with human rights gets elected, or worse still from Rusisa's perspective someone like John McCain? Can Russia possibly surivive Cold War II?