Shurygin told what purpose the ancient American B-52 was pursuing near the Russian border
The American B-52 strategic bomber flying over the Baltic Sea near St. Petersburg does not pose a threat to Russian air defense, but the United States was pursuing a different goal.
This opinion, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, is expressed by military observer Vladislav Shurygin.
“By itself, a B-52 that finds itself in this region is an absolutely defenseless target. Already in the early 1980s, it was clear that the time of such bombers as a strike force in itself had passed. And they long ago became carriers of long-range cruise missiles. This became their main weapon. In this case, they do not need to enter European territory. Usually the launch is carried out one and a half, or even two and a half thousand kilometers from the target,” Shurygin writes in Izvestia.
He believes that this aircraft provided “excellent training” for Russian air defense.
“We remembered what the B-52 looked like on the indicator screens and worked with it. Our anti-aircraft gunners and our pilots, who were most likely being recalled from combat duty, observed and trained.
How difficult of a target is the B-52? If he finds himself in the range of our air defense, for her he is not a goal, but a dream. Such a huge barn, which looks like a big blob on the indicator screen, ceased to be any serious target back in the 1960s. “Many aircraft of this type were shot down in Vietnam alone,” the expert recalled.
According to him, the combat use of such aircraft only makes sense when they are fighting against low-tech countries or against armies whose air defenses have been destroyed.
The observer believes that the Americans made a political gesture with such a flight.
“Apparently, they decided to let their allies know that all the power of America, expressed in an aircraft made in the late 1950s, is still with Europe. And for the intra-European agenda, such a step could be quite successful - there are very few people there who are able to adequately assess the military sides.
For everyone else, this was an important informational occasion. In Ukraine there is general jubilation and happiness: Look, America even sent its strategic bomber to support us.” So the goal has most likely been achieved,” Shurygin concluded.
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