Feeling frisky since 2009.

Russian bombers capable of dropping nuclear weapons violated British airspace on March 10th, flying over Scotland and eventually being intercepted by UK Royal Air Force Tornado jets.

It’s a scene classically reminiscent of Cold War days or a Tom Clancy novel from the same: two weeks ago, Royal Air Force Tornados shadowed a pair of Russian Tu-160 Blackjack heavy bombers as they penetrated British airspace and nonchalantly cruised over the Scottish isles. RAF officials released photos of the intercept today.

Apparently, the Russians have been doing quite a bit of this over the past year. “People may be surprised to know our crews have successfully scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft on more than 20 occasions since the start of 2009,” said RAF Wing Commander Mark Gorringe. The Russian bombers turned around just short of the coast of Ireland.

It’s just the latest Russian saber-rattling from a recently empowered Moscow. And it’s cause for concern even outside of national security-related matters, as commercial airliners could collide with the unexpected, unannounced bombers.

How provocative is the action? Imagine the reaction from the Kremlin if we decided to fly B-1 Lancers into their airspace just for the hell of it. Think Medvedev and Putin are saying, “Hey, no problem. Looks like you got lost,” or are they throwing a shit fit? Shit fit it is.

But Russia has been emboldened by a weaker Washington. Notice the timeline offered by the RAF Wing Commander. The Royal Air Force has been intercepting Russian aircraft quite often since when? Right, the beginning of 2009. I can’t possibly imagine what may have lead Russia to become more and more provocative over the past year.

But hey, let’s keep slamming our allies, showing weakness on the world stage, cutting back our defense budget, and bowing to Moscow by eliminating defense programs they demand be done away with. Like missile defense for Europe, the elimination of which got us precisely nothing in return from Moscow.