By Pavel Felgengauer
More Russian bombers could arrive in Venezuela after the ones currently there leave for homeland, and the US couldn't be absolutely sure they carry no nuclear payloads.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised to respond to the US humanitarian aid deliveries to Georgian sea ports by US naval ships, mentioning however that this will be done "calmly, without hysteria". The Prime Minister was irritated by the fact that naval ships "fitted with cutting edge missile systems" were just 200 kilometres away from the Russian presidential residence outside Sochi. The appropriate response was prepared and approved.
The arrival of Russian naval ships and warplanes in Venezuela was agreed to with the latter's president, Hugo Chavez, in Moscow this July. Forming a naval task force took some time. While Black Sea Fleet warships were able to quickly move towards Georgia's coast because they had been preparing to carry out a specific operation at that particular time in August, the task force, including the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great), the large ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko, a rescue tug and a tanker, will make it to Venezuela by as late as mid November. With a naval force moving too slowly the response promised by Vladimir Putin was made by the strategic aviation force instead. Two Tu-160 strategic bombers landed at the Venezuelan Air Force's base Libertador near Aragua on Wednesday, having flown 13 hours from their home base in Engels near Saratov.
Unlike the Americans, Russian pilots brought no food with them, but this operation could possibly be perceived as humanitarian, since it made Chavez as happy as a child. "It's a warning to the American ‘empire'. Russia is with us... We are strategic allies," he said, demanding to be allowed to steer a bomber immediately afterwards. Maj-Gen Pavel Androsov, commander of the Russian Air Force's strategic aviation, said, "We are no commercial enterprise, but if we get the necessary approval, we could show him [Chavez] the Caribbean basin from an altitude of 16 km (52,480 feet), which is the plane's service ceiling. Passenger airliners don't fly at this altitude."
The Tu-160 has a crew of four (pilot, co-pilot, weapons systems officer and defensive systems operator) in ejection seats. Although there are no passenger seats, Vladimir Putin and Sergei Ivanov were taken for a ride in the co-pilot's seat, although specialists and veteran pilots said it was a risky infringement of flight instruction. The main instruction was that the high-ranking passengers shouldn't touch anything, as Russia has only 16 Tu-160s.
According to a 1992 agreement between Russia and the US, strategic bombers of the two countries should carry no nuclear armament on patrol. Although the Tu-160's armament includes Kh-55 long-range cruise missiles, each tipped with a 200-kilotonne warhead, General Androsov said the bombers arrived in Venezuela with dummy weapons. They had scarcely landed, however, when Chavez assumed a sharp stance, saying the US ambassador had 72 hours to leave Venezuela, telling him to "go to hell 100 times".
Chavez's ally, leftwing Bolivian President Evo Morales, had expelled the US ambassador earlier, accusing him of organising anti-government rallies. In response, US authorities expelled both the Venezuelan and Bolivian ambassadors from Washington, accused two Venezuelan intelligence service's top-ranking officers and a former Interior Minister of drug trade and of rendering financial support to FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia), freezing the officials' bank accounts. Infuriated, Chavez threatened the US with an oil embargo.
The Russian army had scarcely finished its campaign in Georgia and causing a new Cold War when another Caribbean Crisis began. In 1962, the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles on Cuba, code named Operation Anadyr, led the world to the brink of a nuclear war, which was prevented at the last moment. Today, Russia dismisses plans to deploy strategic bombers in Venezuela on a permanent basis, saying that the warplanes currently there will leave soon. More Russian bombers, however, could arrive in Venezuela later, while the 1992 agreement includes no control measures, and the US couldn't be absolutely sure the planes carry no nuclear payload.
The Kh-55 missiles have a range of 3,000 km, which, in certain circumstances, would enable Russian strategic bombers operating from Venezuela to strike the southern US. This November, the heavy cruiser Pyotr Veliky will arrive, which has, besides Granit anti-ship cruise missiles, 12 S-300F long-range air defence missile launchers with a total reserve of 96 missiles. Were relations to break down, the cruiser may try to provide cover to the bombers until the latter fire their missiles.
According to some reports, Russia also planned to send its sole aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, to Venezuela, but, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, Ukrainian authorities denied the fighter pilots of the carrier's air regiment access to the training facility Nitka in the Crimea. The Admiral Kuznetsov seldom takes to the sea, and therefore pilots have to maintain their skills by training at the former Soviet facility, which now belongs to Ukraine, north of Sevastopol.
However, given the fact that Russia has about 3,500 warheads fitted to naval- and ground-based ICBMs, a few bombers and a lone cruiser in Venezuela wouldn't create any significant shift in the general balance of power.
Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, commander of the US 4th Fleet in the Caribbean, said Russia was "wasting fuel" if it intended to frighten America. Obviously, directly supporting Chavez would undermine Russia's relations with the US, leading to an increase in military spending. The American and Russian military would therefore get what they want, and Chavez would take a ride on a bomber, making it an example of true partnership.