On Monday, the US Air Force sent two F-16 war jets to intercept two Russian bomber planes flying too close to the Alaskan defense zone.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command issued a statement saying that although two of Russia’s TU-95 bomber planes did not enter US sovereign airspace, they were stopped by American fighter jets after being detected, tracked, and identified, just as they entered and started flying in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.
The Federal Aviation Administration defines air defense identification zones as areas within the airspace that require all aircraft passing through to be identified, located, and have their flight plans known and controlled. This information is usually in the interest of national security, and it gives the defense force enough time to react in case of hostile interactions.
NORAD is an air defense organization with the combined forces of both the US and Canada and provides protection and aerospace warnings to the two countries. In its statement, the organization said it did not perceive the Russian bomber jets as threats and did not consider the activity provocative.
However, the presence of Russian bomber jets and their subsequent interception by US war jets comes at a bad time, when the relationship between the US and Russia is strained.
The two countries’ situation has grown difficult since Russia invaded Ukraine. For a while now, the US has consistently supported Ukraine since the war broke out, providing humanitarian and military relief while criticizing the Russian government for the crisis and slamming them with economic sanctions.
The war has had a few impacts on the close border between the two countries, with so many Russians escaping the mandatory military draft that Russian President Putin declared. Last week, two people arrived on the shores of Alaska asking for asylum as they were escaping the draft.
In its statement, NORAD highlighted the protection it maintains for the US, including Alaska. The organization said it maintains a defense network of satellites, airborne radar, ground radars, and fighter jets that track, identify aircraft, and give advice on appropriate actions.
Several times, Russian aircrafts have been detected in Alaskan airspace close to the Russian border in the Far East. In October 2020, four Russian F-22 fighter jets were intercepted by US warplanes near the Alaskan air defense identification zone just before they crossed into the US airspace. The Russian fighter jets came within the US airspace in Alaska only 35 miles before being stopped. In 2020, US fighter jets intercepted Russian bombers at least five times in June, August, September, and October, just before the aircrafts entered sovereign US airspace.
NORAD said they are always ready to defend North America by deploying several response options, adding that they monitor the airspace around the clock every day of the week.