The Russians are coming… well, looks like they had never gone away. Incidents of Russian fighter planes carrying out recces at the edges of NATO airspace have been routine. Their favorite aircraft for this purpose is their cold war icon – the Tu-95. The NATO alliance affectionately calls it the “Bear”.
The Russians have been pressing for their share of the mineral wealth in the Arctic. And pointedly chose to make their presence felt immediately after Obama’s visit to Ottawa on February 16th. As has been happening regularly but does not get reported, two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets intercepted the Russian aircraft before it could enter Canadian airspace and asked it in very clear terms to to turn around, turn tail, and head back to its own air space.
Canadian defense minister Peter MacKay stopped short of openly accusing the Russians of mischief mongering but said it was a “strong coincidence” that the Russians chose to carry out the sortie so soon after Obama’s visit.
The Russian called the Tu-95 flight a routine training exercise and rubbished Canadian claims stating that Canada had been informed beforehand of the flight.
It looks like as resources start to become more precious; the last few resource-rich virgin territories on Earth will increasingly be the bone of contention between nations.
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