Upping the ante
Horses, donkeys, ponies, asses, mules, whataver.
What we need to do here is start an equally harmless sequel to the cold war, in which all the competing countries fly successions of ever larger and more bizarre animals. It will drive industry for the next 50 years.
If it were up to me, my next move after a horse would be to fly a giraffe. I'd also get a Harrier on standby to tether a herd of ostriches on elasticated rope and help them become the first flying-in-formation flock, right over the Palace of Westminster on the day the Queen opens Parliament. Imagine seeing that flashed up on Sky News.
It could all end with two Zeppelins holding up a huge tarpaulin between them carrying a blue whale, drawn on the ground along the course of the Thames by elephants ridden by small monkeys in suits and gipsy hats. The RAF could keep flying over them, perfectly targeting the whale with a series of waterbombs to stop it drying out. It would all be very symbolic (not to mention intimidating) to the Russian audience.
Oh, and sending animals into space is nothing new, but bringing them back is less common. I propose that Britain should get those rocket scientists from Top Gear to send a wooden stick into orbit. Then the Government should launch a border collie into space, complete with a specially designed space suit, to do the world's first space doggie walk, retrieve the stick and safely return to Earth. Preferebly, touching down in Hyde Park. But knowing the Russians, they'd probably respond by sending a dog to the moon to (literally) mark its territory.