Russia: Two Strategic Bombers Reportedly Practice Nuclear Missile Strikes Against U.S.

Two Russian strategic bomber jets reportedly practiced cruise missile attacks against targets in the United States during a training mission last week that defense officials said appeared to occur around the same time that the NATO summit in Wales was held on Thursday and Friday, according to a report in the Washington Free Beacon.

As part of a recent training mission, the pair of Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were tracked flying over the Labrador Sea last week in the northern Atlantic Ocean near Iceland, Greenland and Canada's northeast.

Analysis of the flight indicated that the aircraft were conducting practice runs to a pre-determined "launch box" - an optimum point for firing nuclear-armed cruise missiles at U.S. targets, said defense officials familiar with intelligence reports, adding that each aircraft was capable of striking targets as far away as 1,800 miles since they were outfitted with six AS-15 nuclear-armed cruise missiles.

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