The host of Russian state TV’s main prime-time political show, “60 Minutes,” this week suggested Russia deploy nuclear capable Tu-160 bombers 60 miles off the coast from New York City.
This action is necessary, Evgeny Popov says, because the U.S. recently sent a B-52 bomber flight over the Baltic Sea. What Popov left out in his report was the fact that the B-52 transited Estonian air space. Still, while Russian state TV exists to hyperventilate over perceived American affronts, this segment was particularly amusing for its delusional specificity. For one, Popov’s guests also suggested that Russia could deny the U.S. Air Force access to the Baltics, and win a nuclear war with the U.S. Oh, and that the Russian armed forces are now the best in the world. (These claims are untrue).
As for sending bombers to Manhattan, it wouldn’t be justified. The recent B-52 mission was about advancing flight crew familiarization of the Baltic area. Transiting international airspace and allied airspace, it was both proportionate and necessary. But it’s also notable what the U.S. did not do here: it did not fly B-2 stealth bombers on the same mission. That distinction matters in that B-2s, not B-52s, would be the key instrument of first wave strikes against Russian forces in the event of a war.
An even bigger problem with Popov’s argument is that there is no comparison between U.S. strategic strike bombers Russia’s equivalent forces. B-2s are vastly superior to Russian non-stealth Tu-160s. In a war, the B-2s could penetrate Russian air space alongside F-22 or F-35 stealth fighter escorts (though likely with losses at the hands of Russia’s advanced S-400 air defense system). In contrast, the Tu-160s would be intercepted and destroyed long before they could approach the U.S. East Coast.
The simple takeaway here is that both air strike and intercept capabilities are dominant in American favor. Either the Russians would turn around, or they would die. But that would not be true of NATO combat operations in the defense of alliance territory. In fact, the British, French, and U.S. Air Forces have recently increased their readiness to conduct combat operations in Russian air defense heavy environments.
You can watch the translated “60 Minutes” segment here.
