Russia’s Tu-95 strategic bomber fleet is temporarily grounded pending the investigation of a fatal mishap during a June 8 training sortie, reported the state-run TASS Russian News Agency. “The Tu-95 ran over the runway during acceleration,”according to a Russian defense ministry statement, quoted in the June 8 press report. Preliminary information indicates an “engine fire was the cause behind the accident.” The Russian air force operates 63 of the multi-engine turboprop cruise missile carriers alongside its supersonic Tu-22 and Tu-160 strategic bomber fleets. One pilot was killed and another was seriously injured in the incident that took place at Ukrainka Air Base, in Russia’s Far East, according to a UPI report. NATO fighters have frequently intercepted Tu-95s in and around allied airspace since the uptick in tensions following Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea last year.
In the final few hours before the Senate adjourned for its Memorial Day recess on May 26, lawmakers approved a raft of some 3,400 pending military nominations, including a number of high-profile Air Force and Space Force generals to assignments that will significantly reshape some of the upper echelons of…