scramble more american f-22 jets to intercept them. norad said russia resumed these bomber patrols in 2007. it flies seven a year. u.s. air force flies bombers and spy planes off russia as well as more than 250 american fighter jets and aircraft along with 10,000 troops arrived in alaska for war games and probably why russia decided to fly patrols. the northern command released a photo of american b-52 bombers moved to alaska for the training. the time of the release a coincidence. for the first time in 10 years a u.s. aircraft carrier is participating in the training off alaska. the big stick roosevelt showing an f-18 super hornet launching from the flight deck. the russian bomber flights
north america against russian air, maritime and cruise missile threats. russia already doubled its long-ranger bomber patrols around u.s. coastlines in the last year. now ten a year more than 100 around europe the most flights since the cold war. in the last month, several u.s. officials publicly sounding warnings. russia s provocations are only more worrisome in light of vladimir putin s intense focus on building up and modernizing russia s military forces. reporter: the top u.s. commander ins u.s. even raising nuclear weapons concerns. there are those dual use weapon systems that could very easily be nuclear or non-nuclear and our ability to tell the difference between one and the other is very tough and this is very worrisome. reporter: those patrols, one of the thoughts is that moscow may be thumbing its nose at the united states but nored a
concern that they are also engaging in intelligence gathering, to see how admiral gortney s fighter jets respond. let s talk more about this with former nato supreme allied commander general wesley clark, author of don t wait for the next war. a retired four star general. sir, thank you for being here. this seems like a pretty dire warning from the admiral. russian missiles in range of the u.s. kh-101s. if they go operational, what then? could that spark a new arms race of some sort? well they will go operational. there s no doubt about that. and yes, there is an arms race that s coming. we just have to face the fact that russia is coming back. under vladimir putin as president obama said he s got a foot firmly in the soviet past. all these bomber patrols are part of putin s strategy. he wants to rebuild the soviet
increased risk in our ability to defend north america against russian air, maritime and cruise missile threats. russia has doubled its long-range bomber patrols around u.s. coastlines in last year. now, ten a year. more than 100 around europe. the most flights since the cold war. in the last month, several u.s. officials publically sounding warning. russia s provocations are only move worrisome in light of putin s intense focus on building up and modernizeing russia s military forces. there are those dual use weapon systems that could very easily be nuclear or non-nuclear. our ability to tell the difference between one and the other is very tough. this is very worrisome. reporter: now those increased