The North American Aerospace Defense Command tracked and intercepted two Russian military aircraft Wednesday in international airspace near Alaska.
A NORAD news release said the Russian aircraft remained in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ, and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. The zone begin where U.S. sovereign airspace ends.
International aircraft may travel through the zones, but must identify themselves.
A NORAD spokesperson said Thursday that the two Russian planes were Tu-142s, which are used for maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare. The spokesperson declined to identify the number and type of U.S. aircraft sent to intercept and escort the Russian planes in the Alaska ADIZ.
Russian aircraft have frequently flown through the zone. They’re usually met by U.S. jet fighters out of Eielson Air Force Base or Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
The NORAD news release says the Russian sorties are not seen as a threat.
Last reported sortie involved Russian, Chinese aircraft
The last time Russian aircraft passed through the zone was in late July. But the two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers in that formation were accompanied by two Chinese H-6 Xi’an bombers. It was the first time Russian and Chinese aircraft jointly flew through the Alaska zone.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and others said the incident represented an escalation in the years-long game of cat and mouse that’s been playing out in the skies off Alaska’s coasts. In a Facebook post Thursday, Sullivan said the recent intercepts show Alaska “continues to be on the front lines of authoritarian aggression.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed the Russian-Chinese sortie in a briefing on July 25, later in the day the formation was intercepted.
“This is the first time we’ve seen these two countries fly together, like that” in the Arctic, Austin said. He added that the joint flight signals the growing ties between the two nations and their mutual interest in operating in the far north.
According to the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Alaska sortie was the eighth joint bomber flight that China and Russia have conducted since 2019. The previous bomber flights were in the Sea of Japan, East China Sea and Western Pacific.
That includes some flights through the Japanese and South Korean ADIZs.
The Washington, D.C.-based think says a statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense declared the countries were conducting joint strategic air patrols in a “new area of joint operations.”
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
