US fighter jets ‘scramble to intercept Russian nuclear bomber during 11-hour flight past Alaska’ in latest aerial flashpoint between two superpowers
- Putin sent two Tu-95MS nuclear bombers over the Bering Sea on Thursday
- Jets “remained in international airspace” and posed no threat, NORAD said
American fighter jets are said to have scrambled to intercept Russian nuclear bombers flying over Alaskan airspace.
US and Russian warplanes came face to face in the sky on Thursday after Vladimir Putin sent two Tu-95MS nuclear bombers into the Bering Sea, near the west coast of Alaska.
Images published by the Russian Defense Ministry show an Alaska Air National Guard fighter jet marked with the letters AK and the number 304 on the tail fin. A Russian escort Su-30SM fighter jet can also be seen in the video.
The Russian Defense Minister admitted that his massive ‘Bear’ strategic bombers ‘appeared near the coast of Alaska’ during an eleven-hour flight over the neutral waters of the Bering Sea. Moscow said that “at certain stages the missile carriers were accompanied by fighter jets from abroad.”
Four Kremlin military aircraft were detected and tracked while operating near US airspace in an area where Russian aircraft activity is regularly detected, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed on Thursday. NORAD added that the Russian planes “remained in international airspace.”
The air drama came amid anger in Moscow over the resumption of major arms shipments to Ukraine by the US as part of a $61 billion war aid package.
US and Russian warplanes came face to face in the sky on Thursday after Vladimir Putin sent two Tu-95MS nuclear bombers into the Bering Sea, near the west coast of Alaska
Images published by the Russian Ministry of Defense show an Alaska Air National Guard fighter jet marked with the letters AK and the number 304 on the tail fin
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Telegram on Thursday that two ‘missile carriers’ had flown a mission off the west coast of Alaska.
“Two strategic missile-carrying bombers Tu-95MS of the Long-Range Aviation of the Russian Air Force carried out a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Bering Sea near the west coast of Alaska,” the Defense Ministry said.
‘The flight took more than 11 hours. Aerospace Forces Su-30SM crews provided fighter aircraft support.”
It is unclear which other foreign state sent its planes to monitor the Russian mission. The closest western country would be Canada.
NORAD confirmed in a statement that the jets were sighted in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), a buffer outside U.S. sovereign airspace.
“The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace,” the statement said. “This Russian activity in Alaska’s ADIZ is a regular occurrence and is not considered a threat.”
Moscow claimed that “all flights of the Russian Aerospace Forces are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.”
The Tu-95 fleet is an integral part of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, but the aircraft have also been used for devastating conventional missile attacks causing widespread destruction in Ukraine.
The Soviet-era Tu-95s first flew about 70 years ago but remain a mainstay of Russia’s nuclear force. The super noisy Tu-95s are the world’s only propeller-driven strategic bombers.
The jets were sighted in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), a buffer outside U.S. sovereign airspace, NORAD confirmed. The ADIZ is a zone that extends approximately 150 miles from the U.S. coastline and where aircraft must identify themselves
NORAD tracks aircraft in Alaska’s ADIZ through a “layered defense network of satellites, ground and airborne radars and fighter aircraft,” a spokesperson added.
The organization also “remains prepared to deploy a number of response capabilities in defense of North America.”
Russian military aircraft were detected twice in Alaska’s ADIZ in February, ABC news reported. As in Thursday’s incident, the planes did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace.
Last year, several Russian aircraft were detected in Alaska’s ADIZ, a zone stretching about 150 miles from the U.S. coastline where aircraft must identify themselves.
Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash of the Russian Defense Ministry said after one of the flights in February: “Long-range pilots regularly fly over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the North Atlantic Ocean, the Black and Baltic Seas and the Pacific Ocean.”