US jets intercept Russian bombers off Alaskan coast
US fighter jets intercepted two long-range Russian ‘Bear’ bombers in international airspace off western Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said 12 May.
The long-range Tupelev Tu-95 bombers were ‘intercepted and visually identified’ 11 May morning by a pair of F-22 Raptors as the Russian aircraft flew just north of Alaska’s Aleutian islands, said Canadian Army Maj Andrew Hennessy, of NORAD public affairs.
‘At no time did the Russian bombers enter North American sovereign airspace,’ Hennessy said in a statement to AFP.
He added that the Alaska-based US jets monitored the Russians until the bombers left an area known as the Air Defense Identification Zone along the Aleutians, heading west.
That zone extends about 200 miles (322km) from the coastline, mostly in international airspace.
12 May marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of NORAD, a joint US-Canadian command charged with aerospace warning and control for North America.
In April 2017, NORAD and the Pentagon said Tu-95 Bear bombers - four-engine Cold War-era turboprop giants that can carry nuclear weapons - were spotted in international airspace on three occasions, twice near the Aleutians and once near mainland Alaska and Canada.
That was the first sighting of such Russian long-range bombers around Alaska in about two and a half years, a Pentagon spokesman said at the time.
Tensions between Russia and the United States and its NATO allies are running at levels not seen since the Cold War.
The Alaska incident comes after a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet buzzed a US Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, US media reported, citing the US Navy.
Earlier, on 29 January, the US Navy released video of a Russian Su-27 intercepting a US EP-3 Aries surveillance plane in international airspace over the Black Sea.
The interception, which lasted two hours and 40 minutes, was “unsafe” because the Russian jet was ‘closing to within five feet and crossing directly’ through the surveillance plane’s flight path, ‘causing the EP-3 to fly through the Su-27’s jet wash,’ the US Navy said in a statement.
NATO naval officials in late 2017 also reported Russian submarines probing underseas data cables in the North Atlantic.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in January, as he unveiled the Pentagon’s national defense strategy, that the US is facing ‘growing threats’ from Russia and China, and he warned that the US military’s advantages have eroded in recent years.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
You may also like
More from Defence Notes
-
![US Army partners with Global Military Products to surge munitions production]()
US Army partners with Global Military Products to surge munitions production
Global Military Products was selected by the US Army to operate the Quad Cities Cartridge Case Facility and ramp up the production of various calibre shell cases.
-
![Growing a digital backbone: an essential capability for the multi-domain battlespace]()
Growing a digital backbone: an essential capability for the multi-domain battlespace
Future operational superiority will be defined by the ability to connect systems, data and personnel into a wider network. For armed forces, this creates the need for a digital backbone that integrates and enhances sensors and effectors of all kinds.
-
![Estonia opts for smart, adaptable and cooperative solutions in the face of Russian threat]()
Estonia opts for smart, adaptable and cooperative solutions in the face of Russian threat
Estonian-made equipment is being put through the toughest of evaluations in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers resisting the full-scale Russian invasion which began in 2022. The country has long seen the threat and is continuing to adapt for the future.
-
![Estonia boosting defence industry with lessons from Ukraine, says country’s economic minister]()
Estonia boosting defence industry with lessons from Ukraine, says country’s economic minister
Estonia is looking to boost its local defence industry with directed funding, industry parks, support through international orders for equipment and rapid prototyping.
-
![UK faces cost of balancing defensive capabilities abroad as Iran conflict widens]()
UK faces cost of balancing defensive capabilities abroad as Iran conflict widens
The UK has recently deployed a Type 45 destroyer to Cyprus and has bolstered its presence in the Middle East in recent weeks with supporting air power to protect neighbouring countries’ air defences.
-
![White House calls on Pentagon contractors to “rapidly and aggressively” boost weapon production]()
White House calls on Pentagon contractors to “rapidly and aggressively” boost weapon production
Intended to sustain Operation Epic Fury against Iran, efforts to increase the production of weapons and ammunition could expose long-standing weaknesses in the US defence industrial base.
