Russian Bear plays chicken with eagle

February 15, 2008 12:00am

LOS ANGELES: This is the moment a Russian bomber buzzed a US aircraft carrier in the most stark warning yet from the Kremlin of a possible return to the dark days of the Cold War.

With a US F/18 on its tail, the Tupolev 95 bomber twice flew almost directly over the deck of the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz in a remarkably provocative act.

The US Navy yesterday rereleased this photograph -- taken by a US fighter -- of the encounter off Japan last Saturday.

Four Tupolev bombers had taken off from Ukrainka in Russia's far east and headed straight for the Nimitz battle group.

One bomber came close to the aircraft carrier at a time of heightened tensions over US plans for a missile defence system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.