Cold war russian bear. The sleeping bear that is russia is only beginning. In this power struggle russia is playing an increasingly aggressive role in challenging this us supremacy. Russian bear and uncle sam what makes this a great cold war political cartoon is the parallel we can observe between the ussr and the usa. Bear is a large four engine turboprop powered strategic bomber and missile platform.
Cold war bombers usaf raf russia bear backfire victor vulcan b 47 b 58 b 52 mirage iv. The bear intercept is among the most enduring images of the cold war. The ritual was played out thousands of times between 1961 and 1991 as us and canadian air defense fighters scrambled to engage long range soviet bombers and reconnaissance aircraft on the periphery of north american airspace. Just like the us air forces b 52 the bear has proven difficult to replace upgrades and refits are likely to keep these cold war era behemoths in the air until at least 2040.
Despite the end of the cold war the image of russia as a bear lighting a cigar and holding a shield to defend itself continues to resonate with american political cartoonists and the american public. Whats a symbol of russia a bear great lets do a bear this short dialogue tells you everything you need to know of how the cartoon of a russian bear landed on the cover of bloomberg businessweeks recent issue featuring the sochi olympics. First flown in 1952 the tu 95 entered service with the soviet union in 1956 and is expected to serve the russian aerospace forces until at least 2040. Both are trying to extend their political influence both appear larger than life to the other and both see each other in opposition.
It is therefore not surprising that when england began to produce political cartoons and engravings in the 19th century russia was always depicted in them as a bear. The russian bear russian. This image was picked up by. The spiral of history has gone full circle and locked in even in the minds of those in the west that sympathize with us on the past that recently seemed to have gone forever and now the image of russia volens nolens associates with the aggressive soviet bear in a fur cap and an ak 47 in hand smugly sitting upon a nuclear bomb.
Aviation archive softbound book. Russky medved is a widespread symbol generally of a eurasian brown bear for russia used in cartoons articles and dramatic plays since as early as the 16th century and relating alike to the russian empire the soviet union and the present day russian federationit often was and is used by westerners originated in. Mirage iv france french armee de lair.
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