A Soviet Tu-95 "Bear" long-range reconnaissance aircraft is captured mid-flight in this air-to-air photograph, taken during an intercept by fighters of VF-162 flying from the USS Ticonderoga. Throughout the Cold War, U.S. Navy carrier air wings routinely scrambled fighters to identify and photograph Soviet aircraft shadowing American fleet movements in the Pacific, a tense but largely non-confrontational ritual that played out for decades. Project: 218011