This is one of those Tom Clancy scenarios where things are not what they really seem. Even if both had stayed at the 50nm mark, that is probably well within the kill range for whatever air-to-ground missiles a Tu-95 can carry. I still don't understand why one of the bombers was allowed to fly right above the carrier except that it was obvious that they were harmless.
WASHINGTON - U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers flying unusually close to an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend, The Associated Press has learned.
A U.S. military official says that one Russian Tupolev 95 buzzed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz twice, at a low altitude of about 2,000 feet, while another bomber circled about 50 nautical miles out. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because the reports on the flights were classified as secret.
[From Russian bombers intercepted near U.S. ship - Security- msnbc.com]
If you find this kind of maneuvering interesting, then you owe it to yourself to read Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising", where he goes pretty wild exploring all of the hell that those naval bombers can raise. Of course, things have changed, I highly doubt that in a combat situation a flock of Tu-95s can make it within 250nm of a US carrier group's protective bubble.
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