Russian Paper Tiger Strikes Again

Beginning at the end of World War II, Russia has maintained its propaganda that its equipment is the equal of Western military machines and often superior. In 2015, I was on Engle’s Air Force Base in Russia, just across the Volga from the city of Saratov. I have also done inspections of the B-2 facilities in Whiteman Air Force Base, escorting the Russian inspectors. I was conducting an inspection of the nuclear Tu-22M Backfire bombers in accordance with New START, the treaty between the US and RF to limit and draw down the number of nuclear warheads that each country possesses. Because the treaty was written by lawyers and politicians, each individual bomber is counted as one warhead, and the cruise missiles and bombs dropped by such aircraft are not counted. The inspection consists of the visiting inspectors selecting one aircraft. Then, the hosts have to open the bomb bay and allow us to see any hardpoints where bombs could be mounted to ascertain that the aircraft isn’t carrying any nuclear weapons. In essence, we spent a week in Russia to verify that one aircraft didn’t have any nuclear weapons on board on that specific day. After the inspection is completed and the paperwork is signed, the hosts would generally treat the visitors to some sort of cultural excursion. For the Russians in America, that usually consisted of going to Sam’s Club to buy iPhones, but when we were in Engle’s, the Russian hosts took us to the aircraft museum on Engle’s base itself for a brief tour to marvel at the glorious history of the Russian Air Force. <a href="https://medium.com/@dylan_combellick/russian-paper-tiger-strikes-again-b4d3e0472184">Visit Now</a>