Air Force confirms Russian jets circled US territory of Guam
Published February 16, 2013
The Air Force confirms that two Russian bombers on Tuesday circled the U.S. island territory of Guam, prompting U.S. jets to scramble and respond.
Two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft, operating out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, intercepted the Russian Tu-95 bomber aircraft, which left in a northbound direction, said military spokeswoman Capt. Kim Bender.
Bender said no further action was taken but declined to give more details, citing security reasons.
The incident occurred shortly before President Obama delivered his State of the Union address, as reported first by The Washington Free Beacon.
The newspaper also said the Russian bombers were equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
The F-15s were participating in an annual exercise, Cope North, on Andersen AFB. They are stationed at the 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan, the military said.
Pacific Command forces are there to ensure air warning and control over Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. interests in the area. PACOM maintains fighters on alert to respond quickly to any potential air threats within the Pacific area of operations, Bender said.
Russian nationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, long known for his flamboyance and outrageous remarks, said Friday that meteorite fragments had not rained down on Russia in the morning, but that the light flashes and tremors in several of the country’s regions resulted from US weapons tests, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.
“Those aren’t meteors falling, it’s the Americans testing new weapons,” Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, told journalists several hours after the Emergencies Ministry began issuing statements on the incident, which has injured hundreds and damaged scores of buildings.
He also said US Secretary of State John Kerry had wanted to warn Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the “provocation” on Monday, but couldn’t reach him – a reference to US State Department comments earlier this week that Kerry had spent several days trying to speak to Lavrov by phone to discuss North Korea and Syria.
For a more, um, reasoned take on what happened over Russia this morning, head on over to Bad Astronomy, where Slate's Phil Plait has you covered.
