US forces were readied when Russians were spotted about 35 miles from Hawaii. There were reportedly 20 warships and 20 fighter jets as well as submarines and auxiliary vessels in what is being described as Moscow's biggest war games since the Cold War ended, reported the Sun UK.
First chill after the Cold War
According to Russia's defense ministry, the naval drills were conducted 300 miles from the coast of Hawaii. A satellite photo dated June 19 showed the Moscow fleet 35 miles from Hawaii. The photo supposedly shows an aircraft carrier being destroyed.
There is footage of Russian destroyers and fighter jets engaged in drills, with several assets of the Russian force that included a sub, two Tu-142MZ Bear-F Mod with 4 long-range anti-submarine aircraft originating from Yelizovo Air Base located at Kamchatka Peninsula. They also had MiG-31BM Foxhound interceptors with them. More exercises were held showing the takeoff and refueling with a tanker aircraft.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that two units from the force package were practicing how to attack a carrier strike group effectively. While the drills were in progress, Tu-142 aircraft were in flight for 14 hours and went 6,200 miles in one sortie. Refueling was done with the assistance of Il-78 Midas aerial refueling aircraft, aerial tankers.
On the Russian side, the Former Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Navy, Admiral Viktor Kravchenko called the exercises one that was not undertaken since 1991.
The US has sent F-22 fighter jets over Hawaii for such second time this month as a response to Russian military maneuvers in the Pacific, cited the Drive. Although the Russians were in the vicinity on those two occasions, none of their vessels went within the US Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
American launch their own operation
Last June 17, the Navy informed that a strike force that included the USS Carl Vinson and Dewey were in maneuvers close to Hawaii, conducting a combined operation with the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, to conduct a series of missions from long range striking attack including sub-hunting exercises, cited Nairaland.
An official from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, spokesman Captain Mike Kafka made it clear that the Russian entities are monitored by the military constantly.
He added that the US works with the limits of the international law of the sea and air, to make sure that all nations will do the same without limitations, to keep a secure and free, open Indo-Pacific.
Kafka said that Russia should abide by the same laws in the region, and follow international law.
Early this month, the US Air Force sent F-22 Raptors to intercept Russian warplanes a distance of Hawaii. This time, Russian destroyers and fighter jets are engaged in drills that are flexing Moscow's might sending a message to the US.
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