Critically, they should have full global GLONASS (GPS) capability very soon (if not already), considering how many they are throwing up into the heavens: http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/uragan-m.htm

Some KOSMOS-OKO early warning sats:
http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/oko.htm
Only a couple in the last two years – though I have no idea if there are still holes in Russia’s ability to detect missile launches.

With regards to detecting carrier groups:
http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/us-pm.htm

& Tselina-2:
http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/tselina-2.htm

If the carrier group was detected when it was transmitting close to no electro-magnetic signals save essential weak, short range ones, then it tells us that the Russian satellites work. If the group was bleeping all over the place, then your grandmother and her dog would know.

This neatly dove-tails into the current story of ‘secret US spy sat to fall to earth’, or to be shot down. Some people think it carries and advanced weather penetrating radar, jolly useful for finding things (also under umbrellas): http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us/15satellite.html?em&ex=1203224400&en=2350567d2300e89b&ei=5087

My guess is it is either or a radar that could track ships and subs (even underwater) by their wakes or the very new ones that can penetrate tree foiliage… Weather penetrating radars are a bit old hat.

Can anyone say ‘can of worms’?

***
There used to be a great computer strategy game called Harpoon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpoon_(computer_game)) where you could control NATO or Warsaw Pact naval and aviation assets. It was fun sending in waves of Backfires to take out NATO carrier groups in the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap. Very tricky though….
***

Final thoughts: I guess that as Russia didn’t complain seriously enough about promised non NATO expansion into former SU territories pre-Putin, ergo they’ve forfeited the right. It could be argued that continued NATO expansion has forced Putin to throw his weight around (cunning judo related pun there) with missile ‘defense’ and all the shenanigans in Georgia and the Ukraine these last few years.

Russia’s strategic red line has already been pushed too far for its’ liking, so the ‘rot’ has to stop somewhere. Putin is trying to make the line elastic in only one direction – getting the US out of the ‘stans. Uzebekistan has dumped the US, which is a major logistical and operation pain for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Russia even appears to have reneiged(sp?) on a deal with India to share an airbase in Tadjikistan: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JB01Df02.html

Sure, there’s a lot of show involved, but I guess that Putin cares even less how the western media paint him, after all, his job is to protect the country, please his citizens and his homies. He’s certainly come on leaps and bounds since the Kursk disaster. He also knows the only thing ‘the West’ really respects are ‘balls of steel’(TM), something his predecessor had trouble finding most of the time.

Sensationalism in the form of trying to make the subject more interesting for others to follow.

Those subscribing to the view that Russia isn’t relatively strong right now, but on the verge of enhancing itself in a way that might eventually prove detrimental to Western interests.

Many a military mind become uncomfortable when another power starts showing signs of enhancement. This despite the greater power maintaining a vastly existing superiority.

To answer the mentioned points:

The coverage can be made more interesting without misleading sensationalism.

A weak Russia isn’t in the West’s best interests. A point echoed by some rather mainstream Western pundits.

Russia hasn’t been such an inherent adversary of the West, with the latter often being at odds with itself.

Post-Soviet Russia hasn’t attacked any country and has diplomatically acted in a civil manner on a number of topics including the disputed former Communist bloc territories.

As Mark MacKinnon put it, it’s not always Russia’s fault. It can be added that more attention can be given to other fault lines.

I was amused by this comment by a former Air Force chief though:

“An aircraft carrier is harder to find in the open ocean than a needle in the haystack. The crews had to go directly to their target, in this case the Nimitz, to photograph it,” he crowed, Interfax reported.

I would be extremely surprised if the Russian air force didn’t know exactly where all the United States’ aircraft carrier groups were at any given time.

And if we turn the situation 180 degrees we get the same, cue War Nerd over at eXile.ru: http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=15976&IBLOCK_ID=35

Of course, these flaws may have been rectified since then, but there are certainly others.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=96543

I would have been much more impressed if a Russian submarine had penetrated the battle group undetected and surfaced in the middle, the Chinese managed to get with firing range: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2006/11/14/2003336245

I was going to mention something about cameras poking out of the bear’s bottom, but rejected it as too crude…

Eh, more like the other way around. There is nothing new about the Bear as an aircraft, though they might have been recently upgraded with more sensitive and accurate signals intelligence equipment. They almost certainly would have been recording radar frequencies and all the other electro-magnetic emissions from the Japanese aircraft and the US battle group which will be taken home and analyzed for vulnerabilities that could be exploited if a situation gets ‘hot’. Still, neither the Japanese nor Americans would have activated special ‘war’ modes on their systems, so how much information of real value gleaned by the bear(s) is questionable.

It’s also not as if NATO and allies don’t do the same things either and on an larger scale, i.e. the recent ‘shadowing’ of a Russian battle group that headed out in to the Med, flying their spy planes along Russia’s borders and sending submarines into the Kola Peninsula (amongst others), tapping fiber-optic cables etc. etc. ‘course, most of this is underwater so you don’t see it….

It’s great for photos though!