OT- Russian Bear now looking north...

[Cdnwolf]

http://rt.com/news/243629-sweden-rus...-interception/

Russia has increased the number of its flights in the Baltic in recent years as a response to NATO’s expansion to the east and the inclusion of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania into the Alliance.

[Schone23666]

The Baltic countries, for better or worse, sit in a strategically important area with access to the Baltic Sea. The Russians for at least since the 18th century have been involved in the area, either through "Russification", military occupation or just influencing the Baltic states to allow the use of bases and ports there.

They're relatively small countries with small militaries, and it seems that the possible thinking among some may be "Well, is it really worth it for the U.S. and NATO to possibly go to war with Russia to defend three small Baltic Republics?" Add in more disinformation courtesy of Putin along the lines of "Oh, they've always belonged to Russia," and there you go.

Besides the constant air and naval incursions (probing the wire, IMO), the Russians have already detained an Estonian official, Eston Kohver, and then these tidbits, courtesy Wikipedia:

"According to Levada Center data, in 2007, Estonia was considered an enemy of Russia by 60 percent of Russia's citizens (cf. 28% in 2006, 32% in 2005), more than any other country in the world, followed by Georgia, Latvia and United States.[111] The poll was conducted two weeks after the Bronze Soldier relocation to a military cemetery and exhumation of the bodies buried there."

"Russia often criticizes Latvia for discriminating against the Russian-speaking population.[6][7][8][9][10][11] Russia has also participated in a number of cases of complaints against Latvia in the European Court of Human Rights as a third party. These cases also dealt with the violation of the rights of the Russian minority in Latvia. Such cases included Slivenko v. Latvia, Kononov v. Latvia, Vikulov and others v. Latvia,[12] Sisojeva And Others v Latvia, and Vasilevskiy v. Latvia."

"Following Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, concerns about the geopolitical environment led Lithuania to begin preparing for a Russian invasion. In December 2014, Russia carried out a military drill in nearby Kaliningrad with 55 naval vessels and 9000 soldiers.[1] In 2015, Lithuanian Chief of Defence Jonas Vytautas Zukas announced plans to reinstate conscription, which ended in 2008, to bolster the ranks of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The Ministry of National Defence also published a 98-page manual for citizens to prepare them for armed conflict and occupation.[2]"

[Cdnwolf]

Serious talk of stationing NATO troops in those three countries. Would make an interesting scenario for the start of WWIII for an updated Twlight 2000.

[Silent Hunter UK]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

Serious talk of stationing NATO troops in those three countries. Would make an interesting scenario for the start of WWIII for an updated Twlight 2000.

There are already fighters based there as part of the Baltic Air Patrol.

[Draq]

I hope you gents are as prepared for IRL survival as you are for t2k.

[stormlion1]

I can remember back in the mid 90's when the Ruskie Air Fleet was at its lowest and they were still flying there bombers near Alaska. Not often, but they still did it.

[Schone23666]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

Serious talk of stationing NATO troops in those three countries. Would make an interesting scenario for the start of WWIII for an updated Twlight 2000.

What sort of troops are they considering? Because if it's just a token infantry force, those poor bastards will get steamrolled if Ivan decides to visit with tanks.

There is a flip side to the coin too of course. If they were to place heavy mechanized brigades in the Baltic countries, the Russians could see that as preparation for an invasion, or at least try to spin it as such, and retaliate by sending in their own mechanized units first. IMO the only thing the U.S. and NATO can do is be serious about defending the Baltics and have both a plan and a visible deterrence in place.

[Schone23666]

A short article from Business Insider, illustrating the POV of the incoming Chairman of the NATO Military Committee in regards to the situation in the Baltics:

http://www.businessinsider.com/czech...-2-days-2015-5

Also it's worth noting that the Baltics has been discussed previously in another thread with some good insight and information from members like Webstral, in this topic:

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=4621

[Cdnwolf]

So then.... what about the Spratley Islands and China's increasing effort to build another runway and ship anchorage?

[Schone23666]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

So then.... what about the Spratley Islands and China's increasing effort to build another runway and ship anchorage?

With growing ties between the Chinese and Russians, one has to wonder if the recent behavior by both China and Russia is mere coincidence...

They're both old adversaries, and China clearly covets Russia's mineral-rich tundra regions, but there is also the old adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

[Cdnwolf]

Originally Posted by Schone23666

With growing ties between the Chinese and Russians, one has to wonder if the recent behavior by both China and Russia is mere coincidence...

They're both old adversaries, and China clearly covets Russia's mineral-rich tundra regions, but there is also the old adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

*cough, cough* Tom Clancy *cough cough

[Cdnwolf]

http://www.manilalivewire.com/2015/0...sland-dispute/