Vladimir Putin
IN PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) attends an Orthodox Christmas service at a local cathedral of the village Otradnoye in Voronezh region January 7, 2015. Most Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar on January 7, two weeks after most western Christian churches that abide by the Gregorian calendar. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

Russia may now be smaller compared to the old Soviet Union, but the strength and prowess of its military is “far more capable” than the latter, Adm. William Gortney, commander of the U.S. Northern Command (Northcom) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said on Tuesday during a Pentagon briefing. Suffice to say, the present Russia is more threatening and better equipped for war, he added.

The admiral likewise warned in the same briefing that Russia’s been conducting too many long-range flights around Canada, Alaska and down the English Channel, practically borders near the United States. Although Russian aircraft still adhere to international standards, Gortney said they observed “where they're flying are different."

The Russian heavy bombers, Gortney said, have been flying more patrols outside normal Russian airspace "than in any year since the Cold War." Moreover, the frequency of such flying incursions were at a pace "that has not been what they've done in the past, even back with the Soviet Union."

The U.S. and Canada, under NORAD operations, routinely send fighter jets into the skies to monitor any Russian military aircraft approaching the U.S. coastline. But in 2014, it seems Russia’s provoking NORAD as it flies nearer and nearer U.S. and Canadian airspace.

Apart from the Russian flight journeys, Gortney confirmed they have spotted two Russian Navy ships near Cuba and Venezuela, again just off the shores of the U.S. "They're messaging us that they're a global power," he said.

Based on data gathered by The Washington Post, Russia’s military fails compared with Soviet Union’s. In the mid-1980s, the Soviet Union had over 5 million in its armed forces, more in its reserves. The present Russia has only a measly less than one million armed troops, and just two million reserves.

But Gortney cautioned the NATO not to be tricked by the numbers. “The Russians have developed a far more capable military than the quantitative, very large military that the Soviet Union had,” he said.

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