Beware, NATO: Russia Just Showed Off Supersonic Bombers, S-400s and Su-27 Fighters

Mark Episkopos

Security,

Russia’s Southern Military District (SMD) is conducting a series of high-profile combat exercises in defiance of NATO’s Operation Sea Shield 2019, the latest in an ongoing cycle of military escalation in the Black Sea region.

Russia’s Southern Military District (SMD) is conducting a series of high-profile combat exercises in defiance of NATO’s Operation Sea Shield 2019, the latest in an ongoing cycle of military escalation in the Black Sea region.

The initial exercise involved escort and interception drills with the Tu-160 heavy bomber and Su-27SM fighter: "Fighters of the 4th Air Force and Air Defense Army of the Southern Military District escorted Tupolev-160 “white swan” strategic bombers and practiced interception of air targets,” reported the SMD press office.

The Su-27SM is the first upgrade package for the prolific Soviet Su-27, offering expanded air-to-ground capabilities to round out its multipurpose role. Though it certainly hasn’t gotten any younger in the avionics department, the Su-27SM and its predecessor are widely fielded by the Baltic and Black Sea fleets as a plentiful and cost-effective choice for interception runs.

As it turned out, the Tu-160 and Su-27SM drills were only the opening salvo in the Kremlin’s response to Operation Sea Shield. The following day, the SMD reported a massive coastal defenses exercise involving “more than 50 planes and helicopters” and the S-400 anti-aircraft system, as well as the “Bal” and “Bastion” coastal defense batteries. A Beriev A-50 early warning and control AWACS plane--due to be replaced in the coming years with a modernized A-50U boasting a superior Shmel-M radar system--stayed airborne for five hours to direct several of the drills.