Daily Archives: March 20, 2015

NATO Visitors to USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20)
Visitors to USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20). Courtesy HD Video | 1st Combat Camera Squadron | Date: 12.19.2014. Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) welcomed distinguished ...

By: okrajoe

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NATO Visitors to USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) - Video

UK: NATO expansion will lead to war if unchallenged, says Andrew Murray
Journalist and author Andrew Murray stated that if NATO #39;s expansion remains unchallenged it will lead us into another war at the Stop the War Coalition meeting in the Bloomsbury Central...

By: RuptlyTV

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UK: NATO expansion will lead to war if unchallenged, says Andrew Murray - Video

NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact) and China. They provide unambiguous and easily understood English language words in a uniform manner in place of the original designations which may have been unknown (to the West) at the time or easily confused codes.[1]

NATO maintains lists of these names. The assignment of the names for the Russian and Chinese aircraft was once managed by the five-nation Air Standardization Coordinating Committee (ASCC) (now called the Air and Space Interoperability Council, or ASIC, which includes representatives of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States). This is no longer the case.

The United States Department of Defense expands on the NATO reporting names in some cases. NATO refers to surface-to-air missile systems mounted on ships or submarines with the same names as the corresponding land-based systems, but the US DoD assigns a different series of numbers with a different suffix (i.e., SA-N- vs. SA-) for these systems. The names are kept the same as a convenience. Where there is no corresponding system, a new name is devised. Some US DoD nomenclature is included in the following pages and is noted as such.

The Soviet Union did not always assign official popular names to its aircraft, although unofficial nicknames were common as in any air force. Generally the Soviet pilots have not used the NATO names, preferring a different Russian nickname. An exception was that Soviet airmen appreciated the MiG-29's codename 'Fulcrum' as an indication of its pivotal role in Soviet air defence.[2] Hundreds of names had to be chosen, so the names covered a wide variety of subjects and include some obscure words.

To reduce the risk of confusion, unusual or made-up names were allocated, the idea being that the names chosen would be unlikely to occur in normal conversation, and be easier to memorise. For fixed-wing aircraft, single-syllable words denoted piston-prop and turboprop, while multiple-syllable words denoted jets. Bombers had names starting with the letter B and names like Badger (2 syllables: jet), Bear (single syllable: propeller), and Blackjack were used. Frogfoot, the reporting name for the Sukhoi Su-25, references the aircrafts close air support role. Transports had names starting with C (as in cargo), which resulted in names like Condor or Candid.

A fictional NATO reporting name "Firefox" for a fictional "MiG-31" appears in the novel Firefox and subsequent movie. The real MiG-31 from 1979 was assigned the reporting name "Foxhound".

The initial letter of the name indicated the use of that equipment.

The first letter indicates the type of aircraft, like Bear for a bomber aircraft, or Fulcrum for a fighter aircraft.

For fixed-wing aircraft, one syllable names were used for propeller-powered craft (turboprops included), while two-syllable names indicated jet engines.

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NATO reporting name - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BRUSSELS Top officials from NATO and Russia have clashed in public over who is to blame for the dramatically worsened state of East-West relations.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday "the big difference is that we are a defensive alliance."

Speaking to a leading member of Russia's parliament, Stoltenberg told him, "you send troops into other countries."

The Russian, Konstantin Kosachev, flatly denied Russia is using its regular troops in Ukraine. Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia's State Duma, said the U.S.-led alliance talks about the need to respect international law and borders, but itself bombed a sovereign country, the former Yugoslavia, in 1999.

Stoltenberg and Kosachev spoke at a panel discussion organized by the Brussels Forum, an annual event sponsored by the German Marshall Fund.

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NATO, Russian officials clash over who's to blame for state of East-West relations

Russian military exercises, the latest in a series across the country, have taken on a threatening posture. While the most recent installment is not the largest exercise Russia has conducted, the areas involved and the forces included seem to have been deliberately chosen to send a warning to NATO; the exercise itself seems to simulate a full-scale confrontation with NATO through the forward deployment of nuclear armed submarines, theater ballistic missiles and strategic bomber aircraft. Strategic weapon systems, including assets that are part of Russias nuclear capabilities, have also been deployed to locations near NATOs borders.

According to Russian statements, the snap exercise, which was not announced before it began March 16, will last five days and will involve some 45,000 servicemen, around 3,000 vehicles, more than 40 surface vessels, 15 submarines and 110 aircraft. The more notable systems involved are the Iskander mobile theater ballistic missiles and fighter aircraft that are being deployed to Kaliningrad, Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers that are being deployed to Crimea, and ballistic missile submarines that have been sent to sea with protective escorts.

The initial statement on the exercise focused on the role of the Northern Fleet, saying the main purpose of the drill was to test deployment times to Russian positions in Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land. Russia has increased its military presence in the Arctic, and the exercise highlights Russias plans for the Arctic region. This part of the drill seems to be playing out in a rather straightforward way: Russian forces are being airlifted to Russias Arctic bases and several naval exercises are taking place, including anti-submarine operations and mine sweeping procedures that typically precede the snap sorties of nuclear armed submarines in times of crises.

Actions Are Stronger Than Words

However, though the stated focus of the exercises is in the Arctic, operations have expanded to include military activities along the Finnish border, the deployment of strategic weapons systems to Kaliningrad and Crimea, and positions across the Baltic Fleet, Black Sea Fleet, and in the western and southern military districts. This combination lifts the exercise beyond a simple deployment of ground forces and naval exercises in the Arctic and forms a nuclear narrative.

The forward deployment of theater ballistic missiles and bomber aircraft are provocative indicators of possible pre-emptive action against NATO and Eastern Europe. Given Russias military actions in Ukraine, the possibility, however unlikely, that the country could expand operations cannot be dismissed. For that reason, and because Russia has intentionally designed the drills to mimic a potential conflict with Europe, the exercises are cause for alarm in Europe.

By deploying Tu-22M3 bomber aircraft, Russia is also openly invoking the threat of nuclear confrontation. Considering Moscows statements about a potential deployment of nuclear weapons to Crimea, Russia is clearly connecting the Ukraine crisis and its intentions in the Arctic to the nuclear deterrent it possesses.

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Russia Targets NATO With Military Exercises