It now appears that Red Russian aircraft appear to have succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on the USN carrier battle group deployed to the Barents Sea region, according to independent news agencies.  Officially, NATO has no comment other than to confirm that large-scale rescue operations were underway off the northern Norwegian coast.  The exact nature of NATO's losses has not been disclosed, but unconfirmed reports suggest that the supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan has suffered heavy damage.  One report claims the Reagan has actually been sunk, but no confirmation is available... 