Eph-two-two and others

To Europe there arrived the most perfect fighters of the U.S. Air Force.

To Europe for the first time there arrived fighters of the U.S. Air Force of F-22A Raptor. The most perfect American warplanes are placed on air base Shpangdalem in the Western Germany and should, on a plan of the guide of the American military man of department, calm NATO countries concerning prospective Russian military aggression. Repetition of the passed

«Military activity of Russia in Ukraine continues to cause big concern in us and our European allies», – the minister of the U.S. Air Force Deborah Li James at press conference in the Pentagon declared on August 24, 2015, explaining the reasons of transfer F-22A to Europe. Planes are thrown within American «Initiatives on ensuring the European safety», and are urged «to support allies on NATO and to show our commitment of safety and stability in Europe».

Comments to this event as a rule are very quickly consolidated to discussion of fighting possibilities F-22A, however the in itself fact of a transfer of the latest equipment of the U.S. Air Force to Europe as means of encouragement of allies has precedent in post-war history.

Emergence in Western Europe the American jet fighters F-80 «Shuting became the first such precedent Is old» in July, 1948 when on the Bavarian air base Fyurstenfeldbryuk the 36th destructive aviagroup with 75 cars latest at that time was thrown from the USA. The transfer to Europe additional parts of the U.S. Air Force became one of consequences of the Berlin crisis of 1948-49, actually – one of the first serious incidents of Cold war.

This transfer, which volumes were rather modest – 75 fighters in scales of the Air Force of those times, generally, were comparable with a modern link from four planes, nevertheless, had important psychological value. Until the main fighters of the U.S. Air Force in Europe remained piston P-51 "Mustang", and emergence in Germany of jet fighters rendered, according to the American researchers, important psychological influence.

Photo F-80 Shooting Star: AP

The today’s situation with transfer F-22 actually is an ideal echo of events of 67-year prescription: about psychological value of a transfer of new fighters speak openly and at once. And just as and in 1948, this step became not to the U.S. Air Force first in strengthening in Europe: in 2014 strain of relations between Russia and NATO against the Ukrainian events caused a transfer of the additional fighters F-16 and return of attack planes A-10, shortly before that deduced in the USA, and at the beginning of Cold war deterioration of the relations between Washington and Moscow caused emergence in Europe of the heavy B-29 bombers.

Six B-29 43 bombing wings of strategic aviation command from air base Davies-Montan in the State of Arizona were thrown to Great Britain, on air base of the Royal Air Force Bartonvud. These planes started to make regularly flights on different airfields of Germany as it was declared officially, in the training purposes. Soon after, B-29 appeared on bases in France, Turkey and Greece, and started to fly regularly near air borders of the USSR and Bulgaria, showing the American presence at the European sky. In May, 1947 strategic aviation command began process of placement B-29 on the German air bases Fyurstenfeldbryuk and Gibelshtadt on a constant basis by a rotation principle – on change had on duty of the USA there arrived new squadrons of bombers. Besides, strategists located in Great Britain – on bases Markhem, Uoddington, Skempton and Leykenkhit.

Photo B-29 Super Fortress: AP

If to continue analogies to today further, soon it is necessary to expect transfer of presence of additional forces of the U.S. Air Force in Europe on a constant basis and their further increase. What role in it will play F-22A difficult while to tell, but with the greatest probability without them will not manage: that and EU countries fighters of the fourth generation concede the being armed U.S. Air Force under construction for the Air Force of Russia to Su-35 and the latest Su-30 versions, and in the USA, and at their allies spoke too often.

Outside of psychology

Transfer F-22 with the formulation about «demonstration of commitment of stability» speaks rather about poverty of tools of reaction available for the USA on the new political situation which has developed in Europe as a result of the Ukrainian crisis. The main difference of a situation of 2014-15 from 1946-48 nevertheless is absence of opposition at ideological level: The Soviet Union aspiring to global expansion of the influence more is not present. In fact it is a question, thus, about a power reinforcement of the western position in the conflict on borders of Russia, thus Moscow dalekoidushchy aggressive intentions at once are attributed, up to occupation of the Baltic States and other East Europe territories.

On a question of that, why to Moscow similar Napoleonic aspirations, the answer nobody gives: it is obvious that the Main Enemy of democracy by definition should aspire to aggressive campaigns on a global scale, irrespective of color of the banners and principles of a state system.

Consequences of similar steps to new conditions can be rather amusing: despite numerous conversations on the new race of the arms initiated by Moscow, the existing Russian state arms program does not set as the purpose of receiving a military superiority over NATO, and in these conditions opposition can turn into a vylamyvaniye of an open door. Irrespective of, whether the superiority in strength of the Air Force of NATO over the Air Force of Russia will be expressed by an indicator 3:1 or 10:1, possible war with Alliance, from the point of view of the Russian military doctrine, is critical threat for existence of the country justifying use of the nuclear weapon.

In these conditions strengthening of the U.S. Air Force in Europe, called, in the theory to provide safety on a case of hypothetical Russian aggression, will affect this safety negatively rather: military collision with NATO is not included into the Russian plans, but in the conditions of strengthening of military presence along borders its probability increases. On itself maintenance of presence of the U.S. Air Force in Eastern Europe will manage rather expensively: one of main goals of transfers of the American planes on airfields of the same Poland where already profits two of four sent to Europe F-22, and also landed and F-16 and attack planes A-10, is check of a condition of the military infrastructure generally inherited from the Warsaw pact. Re-equipment of airfields, especially for continuous basing of the American cars, will demand not so ordinary expenses, in the USA nobody cancelled the sequester of the military budget thus declared several years ago by Barack Obama.

Growth of threat of nuclear war becomes a result instead of increase of safety, and to loading to it there are expenses on strengthening of military presence of the USA in the European territory. Probably, such behavior too can be justifiable – if at someone too much money.

Ilya Kramnik