The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it had detected four Russian planes that had entered the Alaskan air defense identification zone. US fighter jets were sent to intercept them. However, such cases are not uncommon, so the US does not consider them provocations, writes The Hill.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command said Tuesday it had detected four Russian aircraft, including Tu-95 bombers and Su-35 fighter jets, that had entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone. It covers international airspace along the US and Canadian borders.
According to the US military, they had anticipated this and were able to quickly get two F-16 fighter jets into the sky to intercept the Russian planes. Two F-35A, E-3 Sentry and two Stratotanker KC-135 fighters were also sent to help.
However, the command noted that the incident had nothing to do with this month’s shoot-downs over the US and Canada and that the Russian planes had not invaded the sovereign airspace of the two countries.
The US regularly monitors foreign aircraft in the air defence zone and escorts them as necessary, most recently in October. Two Russian bombers entered the airspace of the zone.
Three Russian warplanes were also in the sky near Polish airspace on Monday, intercepted by two Dutch F-35s.
Since such occurrences are frequent – an average of six to seven interceptions a year – they are “not considered a threat or provocation”, the command says. But relations between the US and Russia are strained at the moment, The Hill recalls.
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