The North American Aerospace Defense Command had to scramble fighter jets on consecutive days this week to intercept Russian aircraft off the coast of Alaska.
NORAD said Monday it intercepted four Russian aircraft operating within the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
And on Tuesday, a similar encounter between fighter jets and Russian aircraft took place — potentially in the same region.
The American aircraft used Tuesday were two U.S. F-35 fighter jets, according to Fox News.
The Russian military aircraft from Tuesday included a TU-95 Bear-H bomber, along with SU-30 and SU-35 fighter jets.
Washington Examiner defense reporter Mike Brest broke the news Thursday on Twitter about the NORAD-Russian aircraft incident from Tuesday.
Shortly thereafter, in a prepared statement Thursday, NORAD’s official Twitter account confirmed it had “detected, tracked, positively identified and intercepted four Russian aircraft” approaching the ADIZ area Tuesday.
“Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” the NORAD statement continued. “[Tuesday marks] the second intercept of Russian aircraft over two days. This Russian activity near the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative. As before, NORAD had anticipated this Russian activity, and as a result of our planning, was prepared to intercept it.
“Since Russia resumed out of area Long Range Aviation activity in 2007, NORAD has seen a yearly average of approximately six to seven intercepts of Russian military aircraft in the ADIZ. These numbers have varied each year, from as high as 15 to as low as zero.”
For Tuesday’s press release, which only discussed the Monday encounters, NORAD similarly acknowledged activity involving Russian aircraft around the ADIZ “occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”
The Russian border is approximately 60 miles from Alaska across the Bering Strait.
Also on Tuesday, NORAD said the Russian aircraft included the TU-95 Bear-H strategic bomber and the SU-35 fighter jet.
It also said two U.S. F-16 fighter jets, supported by two F-35 fighter jets, an E-3 Sentry AWACS, and two KC-135 Stratotankers, intercepted the Russian aircraft.
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