US fighter jets intercept two Russian bombers near Alaska

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• U.S. F-16 fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace near Alaska on Tuesday.
• The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the bomber jets were intercepted after “entering and operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.”
• NORAD said the bombers were “not seen as a threat” despite high tensions between the U.S. and Russia.

The Air Force sent two F-16 warplanes to intercept two Russian bombers that flew near Alaska on Monday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement.

NORAD, a combined air defense organization of the U.S. and Canada that routinely monitors foreign aircraft in the airspace, confirmed the two bombers did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace.

According to NORAD, the Russian Tu-95 Bear-H bombers were “detected, tracked, positively identified and intercepted” as they were “entering and operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone .”

Air defense identification zones (ADIZ) are areas of airspace over land or water that require all aircraft to be identified and have their flight plans controlled “in the interest of national security,” the Federal Aviation Administration said.

NORAD said the Russian activity was “not seen as a threat nor is the activity seen as provocative” despite high tensions between the U.S. and Russia.

The situation has grown tenser between the two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine. The U.S. has since supported Ukraine with humanitarian and military aid while economic sanctions were imposed on Russia.

It has also created tensions on the close border between Russia and the U.S. Russians who escaped their country’s military draft have arrived on the shores of Alaska on at least one boat.

In July, Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the Russian State Duma, made indirect threats toward Alaska. The Russian official said the U.S. should remember that the state was once part of Russia and that it could be forced “to give back” territory, according to the Telegram channel of RBC Group, a Moscow media company.

NORAD, meanwhile, stressed the numerous protections it maintains for Alaska and the U.S., which include “a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based radars, airborne radar and fighter aircraft to track and identify aircraft and inform appropriate actions,” it noted in its statement.

Source: Fox News