Quote:
Originally Posted by mapuc
Some question
1. Did Russia/Sovjet do the same during the cold war ?
2. If yes in question 1. Has there been any changes in the way they act ?
Markus
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1. Yes, all the time.
2. It largely stopped for a period after the fall of the Soviet Union, and has gradually climbed back up again. The degree to which this reflects changing political or military concerns is open to debate. I suspect that a lot of it is simply down to the military (east and west) liking to have something to keep themselves occupied, to (supposedly) justify their enormous budgets. Even in the darkest Cold War days, the Soviets knew their aircraft were going to be intercepted, and also knew that they would be sitting ducks if they did anything overtly warlike. It probably helped with ElInt, but terms of actual military significance, it probably amounts to little more than ceremonial display - an airborne version of this: