US fighter jets allegedly scrambled to intercept Russian nuclear bombers that flew over Alaskan airspace.
US and Russian warplanes encountered each other in the sky on Thursday when two Tu-95MS nuclear bombers, sent by Vladimir Putin, flew over the Bering Sea, near the western coast of Alaska.
Published footage from the Russian Defense Ministry captured a warplane from the Alaska Air National Guard, identified by the letters AK and the number 304 on its tail fin. The video also shows a Russian escort Su-30SM fighter jet.
The Russian defense minister confirmed that their ‘Bear’ strategic bombers were present ‘near the coast of Alaska’ during an 11-hour flight over the neutral waters of the Bering Sea. Moscow stated that ‘at certain stages the missile carriers were accompanied by fighter jets of foreign countries’.
Four Kremlin military jets were detected and tracked operating near American airspace in an area where Russian aircraft activity is regularly detected, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed Thursday. NORAD added that the Russian jets ‘remained in international airspace’.
The aerial drama came amid fury in Moscow over the US resuming major arms supplies to Ukraine as part of a $61billion package of war aid.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed on Telegram that two ‘missile carriers’ had flown a mission off the western coast of Alaska on Thursday.
‘Two Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ long-range aviation carried out a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Bering Sea near the western coast of Alaska,’ said the defense ministry.
‘The flight lasted over 11 hours. Crews of Su-30SM of the Aerospace Forces provided fighter support.’
It is unclear which other foreign state sent up its aircraft to monitor the Russian mission. The closest Western country would be Canada.
NORAD, in a statement, confirmed the jets were observed in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is a buffer some outside US sovereign airspace.
‘The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,’ the statement said. ‘This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.’
Moscow claimed that ‘all flights of the Russian Aerospace Forces are carried out in strict compliance with international rules of airspace use’.
The Tu-95 fleet is an integral part of Russia’s nuclear armory, but the planes have been also used to launch devastating conventional missile strikes causing large-scale destruction in Ukraine.
The Soviet-era Tu-95s first flew some 70 years ago but remain a mainstay of the Russian nuclear force. The super noisy Tu-95s are the world’s only propeller-powered strategic bombers.
NORAD tracks aircraft in the Alaska ADIZ through a ‘layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft’, a spokesperson added.
The organization also ‘remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America.’
Russian military aircraft were detected in the Alaska ADIZ on two separate occasions in February, ABC News reported. Similarly to Thursday’s incident, the jets did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace.
Last year, multiple Russian aircraft were detected in the Alaska ADIZ, a zone stretching about 150 miles from the US coastline in which aircraft are required to identify themselves.
Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash, of Russia’s Defense Ministry, said after one of the February flights: ‘Long-range aviation pilots regularly fly over the neutral waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Baltic Seas, and the Pacific Ocean.’