MOSCOW (Reuters) - NATO forces sent jets to escort two Russian long-range air force bombers patrolling neutral skies near Alaska on Wednesday, Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying.
Russia's military has resumed its Cold War practice offlying regular patrols far beyond its borders, and in the lastyear has also sent turbo-prop Tu-95s over U.S. naval aircraftcarriers and the Pacific island of Guam.
Accompanied by two Il-78 refuelling tankers, the two Tu-95"Bear" bombers flew for 15 hours over the Arctic and Pacificoceans, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Air Force spokesmanAlexander Drobyshevsky as saying.
"In the course of the air patrol, long-range aviationaircraft were escorted by NATO jets in the region of Alaska,"said Drobyshevsky.
Originally designed to drop nuclear bombs, the Tu-95,Russia's equivalent of the U.S. air force's B-52, is a Cold Waricon refitted for surveillance and maritime patrols.
Russia, in the eighth year of an economic boom driven byhigh global oil prices, has raised military funding after yearsof neglect following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Russian navy has finished construction of mothballedsubmarines and restarted large-scale naval exercises thatshortages of fuel and spare parts had made a rarity.
Analysts say the Kremlin is using its reviving militarymight to support a policy of projecting Russia's power again onthe world stage.
But some military observers say the Russian armed forcesare still hampered by a shortage of combat-ready assets andthat the exercises are primarily a public relations exercise.
(Reporting by Chris Baldwin; Editing by Catherine Evans)
