Military

NORAD detects, intercepts 2 Russian aircraft off Alaska’s coast

KUAC | By Tim Ellis

Published September 12, 2024 at 1:00 AM AKDT

A U.S. F-22 jet fighter accompanies a Russian Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance/antisubmarine warfare plane through the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone in March 2020. Canadian F-18 jet fighters also responded to the Tu-142 sortie through the international airspace off the coast of Alaska and Canada. — A U.S. F-22 jet fighter accompanies a Russian Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance/antisubmarine warfare plane through the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone in March 2020. Canadian F-18 jet fighters also responded to a Wednesday sortie of two Tu-142s through international airspace off the coast of Alaska and Canada.

U.S. aircraft escort maritime reconnaissance/anti-submarine warfare planes through international airspace

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 and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. Air Defense ID Zones begin where sovereign airspace ends.

International aircraft travel through the zones, but must identify themselves.

The Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone extends northward and westward into the Chukchi and Bering seas, and southward into the northern Pacific Ocean. It also butts up against the Canadian ADIZ in the Beaufort Sea and the Pacific off the southeast Alaska panhandle. — The Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone extends northward and westward into the Chukchi and Bering seas, and southward into the northern Pacific Ocean. It and butts up against the Canadian ADIZ in the Beaufort Sea and the Pacific off the southeast Alaska panhandle.

A NORAD spokesperson said today 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 Alaska Air Defense ID Zone.

Russian aircraft have frequently flown through the zone, and they’re usually accompanied 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. The release did not identify the type of aircraft in the formation nor the type of U.S. fighter jets that intercepted and escorted them through the Air Defense ID zone.

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. Senator 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.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed the Russian-Chinese sortie in a briefing on July 25^th, 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 Air Defense Identification Zones .

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.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated.