{"id":77497,"date":"2020-06-17T20:33:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T20:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/06\/17\/competition-between-us-and-russian-air-forces-keeps-pace-despite-global-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:38:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:38:59","slug":"competition-between-us-and-russian-air-forces-keeps-pace-despite-global-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/06\/17\/competition-between-us-and-russian-air-forces-keeps-pace-despite-global-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Competition between US and Russian air forces keeps pace despite global pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=73c25ce4-6b11-4346-bca3-14d3b2ff3c89\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-73c25ce4-6b11-4346-bca3-14d3b2ff3c89.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Check out the Russians&#8217; point of view, released by the Russian Defense Ministry, of an encounter with NORAD-attached F-22s in the skies near Alaska. So THIS is what it looks like from their side&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 On Tuesday night, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/10\/03\/dogfights-and-draculas-castle-us-air-force-tightens-its-bonds-with-romania-over-summer-deployment\/\" target=_blank>U.S. Air Force<\/a> F-22 jets scrambled to intercept <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/10\/03\/dogfights-and-draculas-castle-us-air-force-tightens-its-bonds-with-romania-over-summer-deployment\/\" target=_blank>two separate formations of Russian aircraft<\/a> that included Tu-95 bombers, Su-35 fighter jets, and an A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The encounter, which occurred in international airspace about 32 nautical miles from Alaska, came less than a week after a very similar encounter. F-22s from the North American Aerospace Defense Command <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/06\/10\/norad-f-22s-intercept-russian-bombers-near-alaska\/\">intercepted a group of Russian bombers<\/a> getting a little too close to Alaska for comfort. Though the two pairs of Tu-95 \u201cBear\u201d bombers, and accompanying Russian aircraft, did not enter American airspace during the June 10 encounter, they entered the Alaskan air defense identification zone, NORAD said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia released video showing what the encounter looked like from their pilots\u2019 point of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday the Russian Defence Ministry also posted a video of its Su-27 fighters intercepting an American B-52 bomber over the Baltic Sea during the annual Baltic Operations maritime exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All three intercepts were routine, legal and safe. But those operations \u2014 and others like them that have occurred periodically over the past three months \u2014 are being used by the U.S. and Russian air forces to signal to each other that they remain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/a-modern-nato\/2019\/08\/28\/denied-hot-meals-and-indoor-toilets-us-airmen-prepare-for-the-fog-of-war\/\" target=_blank>ready to respond to threats<\/a> and defend their airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/06\/15\/trump-confirms-plans-to-pull-some-us-troops-out-of-germany\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20160458667839.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump confirms plans to pull some US troops out of Germany<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The president blasted Germany leaders for not spending enough on their own military capabilities.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia has not scaled back air operations in Europe since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and the number of intercepts of Russian aircraft has remained roughly stable, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2019\/09\/17\/usafe-head-downplays-impact-of-deferred-military-construction-projects-in-europe\/\" target=_blank>Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian<\/a>, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, told Defense News in an exclusive June 12 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would quantify it as basically the same number [of intercepts] and types of activity,\u201d he said. \u201cCertainly COVID has taken an impact on their exercises. But broadly \u2014 when it comes to their response to the work that we\u2019ve been doing in the Black Sea, in the Mediterranean, in the Baltics, in the High North \u2014 they continue to respond in terms of the numbers of intercepts that they\u2019ve executed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The posture of the Russian Air Force, in some ways, mirrors that of its U.S. counterpart. Harrigian acknowledged that the pandemic had \u201csome impact\u201d to U.S. Air Force activity in Europe, particularly regarding training with NATO allies and other partner nations. However, those training events are ramping up, as partner nations lessen restrictions and the U.S. Air Force increasingly relies on virtual tools to brief and debrief pilots while maintaining social distancing, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Harrigian also pointed to recent operations in Europe, such as bomber task force missions in May where U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/05\/29\/b-1bs-complete-bomber-task-force-mission-with-ukrainian-turkish-aircraft-for-the-first-time\/\" target=_blank>flew with military aircraft from Ukraine<\/a>, Turkey, Poland and other nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3543\" height=\"2362\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6226367.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6226367.jpg.jpg 3543w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6226367.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6226367.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6226367.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6226367.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6226367.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3543px) 100vw, 3543px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Ukrainian Su-27 Flanker and MiG-29 Fulcrum escort two B-1B Lancers during a training mission for Bomber Task Force Europe on May 29, 2020, in the Black Sea region. (Courtesy of the Ukrainian Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI believe there were some that expected our activity to be severely impacted by COVID,\u201d Harrigian said. \u201cAnd yet, if you were to look at the numbers and the locations \u2026 frankly, there\u2019s been very little impact on those types of activities. And, in fact, I would offer in some cases it may have actually increased, as we\u2019ve shown here over the last several weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both politically and militarily, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided Russia and the United States yet another arena in which to compete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia is home to the third-highest number of coronavirus cases, following the United States and Brazil. However, Russia\u2019s 552,000 confirmed cases are only a quarter of the 2.1 million cases in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University\u2019s Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Russia\u2019s death count from the virus is an even smaller fraction of the United States\u2019 total \u2014 about 7,500 in Russia compared with about 117,000 in the U.S. \u2014 though the veracity of official Russian statistics is widely disputed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On June 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin drew a direct comparison between how Russia and the United States responded to the virus. \u201cWe are working rather smoothly and emerging from this situation with the coronavirus confidently and with minimal losses,\u201d he told state TV, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-russia-cases\/putin-says-russias-handling-of-coronavirus-is-superior-to-u-s-idUSKBN23L07U\" target=_blank>according to Reuters<\/a>. \u201cBut in the [United] States that is not happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. military and Defense Department officials have raised concerns that the ongoing pandemic could create openings for adversaries to exploit \u2014 whether through military means <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/coronavirus\/2020\/03\/25\/amid-pandemic-pentagon-urges-hyper-vigilance-against-foreign-investment\/\" target=_blank>or economic ones<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In late May, U.S. Africa Command revealed that Russia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/05\/26\/russian-aircraft-deploy-to-libya-to-back-private-military-contractors-africom-says\/\" target=_blank>deployed MiG-29 and Su-24s <\/a>to Al Jufra air base in Libya. AFRICOM asserted that the aircraft \u2014 which was repainted to disguise their origin \u2014 would likely be used on behalf of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/04\/04\/why-this-us-general-says-russian-wagner-mercenaries-in-africa-concern-me-greatly\/\" target=_blank>the Wagner Group<\/a>, a Russian-backed private military firm that is supporting the Libyan National Army\u2019s fight against the Government of National Accord \u2014 the interim government of Libya that is supported by the United States and the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/05\/27\/top-russian-lawmaker-denies-that-military-sent-warplanes-to-libya\/\" target=_blank>has denied<\/a> the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe concern that we have at the strategic level,\u201d Harrigian said, \u201cis we\u2019ve got to acknowledge the fact that the Russians have taken an approach very similar to what they did in Syria a couple years ago. Where they enter in with a paramilitary force \u2014 a surrogate, if you will \u2014 and that surrogate then lays inroads into that particular nation, and then ultimately puts them in a position to bring in further capabilities that can make access challenging, or give them access to a port or something that will drive strategic concerns for the southern flank of NATO.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. continues to watch for movement by Russian assets, Harrigian said, but he noted that Russia\u2019s posture hasn\u2019t changed much since AFRICOM first revealed the fighter deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think the Russians recognize they were exposed. \u2026 They were savvy to the point that they were caught in the act,\u201d he said. \u201cThe bottom line is, we haven\u2019t seen a whole lot of change since then.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Both Russian and U.S. air forces are out to prove their readiness hasn&#8217;t suffered in the wake of COVID-19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":84831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,117,15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3297],"class_list":["post-77497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"T6QE6J4XZJDMJBHRVX47AQ7BOY","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2020\/06\/17\/competition-between-us-and-russian-air-forces-keeps-pace-despite-global-pandemic\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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