Russian aircraft came dangerously close to a U.S. fighter jet sent to intercept them off the coast of Alaska.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked four Russian military aircrafts operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on September 23.
NORAD scrambled four F-16s fighters and a reconnaissance aircraft to Premium Goa Escort Service the Russian formation through the zone, a spokesperson told Alaska Public Media.
Video of the interaction shows one Russian jet soaring past an American aircraft, quickly banking left and right.
‘The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you’d see in a professional air force,’ said Gen. Gregory Guillot.
NORAD detected and tracked four Russian military aircrafts operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on September 23
Video of the interaction shows one Russian jet soaring past an American aircraft, quickly banking left and right
Russia’s formation included two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers and two Su-35 Flanker jet fighters.
NORAD said the Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace.
‘This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat,’ the agency said.
An increase in Russian military planes and vessels near American territory prompted the US to relocate 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in Alaska earlier in September.
Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels – including two submarines – have come close to the ‘last frontier’ in the past week as Russia and China have conducted joint military drills, beginning on September 10.
A Pentagon spokesperson said there was no cause for alarm as the aircrafts have yet to breach U.S. airspace.
‘It’s not the first time that we’ve seen the Russians and the Chinese flying in the vicinity and that’s something that we obviously closely monitor,’ Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference.
An increase in Russian military planes and vessels near American territory prompted the US to relocate 130 soldiers to Alaska
U.S. Army soldiers maneuver through the thick terrain of Shemya Island, Alaska, as part of a force projection operation to the remote island in the North Pacific Ocean on September 13
‘It’s also something that we’re prepared to respond to,’ he added.
NORAD tracked and detected Russian military planes operating off Alaska over a four-day span with two planes each day beginning on September 11.
The planes operated in the Alaska ADIZ – a zone beyond U.S. sovereign airspace – but within which the U.S. expects aircraft to identify themselves.
The number of such invasions have fluctuated yearly, NORAD reports. The average was six to seven interceptions a year though last year, 26 Russian planes came into the Alaska zone and so far this year there have been 25.
In such encounters it is common for the U.S. military to provide photos of the Russian warplanes being escorted by either U.S. or Canadian planes.
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