2 Russian Military Aircraft Detected in Alaskan Airspace: NORAD

Russian Sukhoi planes are seen flying in a formation. (Maxim Shemetov/File/Reuters)

Military officials overseeing U.S. and Canadian airspace detected and tracked two Russian military planes operating near Alaska this week, according to a statement.

The Russian planes “remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace” during the incident on Thursday, said the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

NORAD noted it was the second time in a week that Russian aircraft have been tracked in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), adding that such incidents occur on a regular basis and are not “seen as a threat.” On Tuesday, four Russian planes entered the ADIZ, triggering a similar statement from NORAD.

Other details about the encounters, including what type of planes were being used, were provided by NORAD. It’s also unclear why the Russian military aircraft may have entered the airspace.

“An ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security,” NORAD’s statement continued.

It then emphasized that it uses a “layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars, and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions” and “remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America.”

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Of the first incident on Tuesday, a Russian official told Reuters that two nuclear-capable Tu-95MC strategic bombers flew over the ADIZ waters but stayed in international airspace.

The Tu-95s, known as Bears by NATO, flew for about 9 hours, escorted by SU-30SM fighter jets. They flew over the Bering and Chukchi Seas, Russia’s defense ministry said.

“The flight was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace,” said Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash, Commander of Russian long-range aviation, Reuters reported. “Long-range aviation pilots regularly fly over the neutral waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Baltic Seas, and the Pacific Ocean,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2007 revived the Soviet-era practice of sending strategic bombers on regular patrols beyond Russia’s borders. Over the past decade or so, NORAD has reported numerous instances of Russian planes entering the ADIZ.

Last August, four Russian planes were detected by NORAD in the ADIZ, while on May 15, the U.S. military scrambled fighter jets to intercept a Russian plane after it entered the airspace during a U.S. military training exercise in the area. Six Russian military jets, meanwhile, were intercepted on May 11 during the training exercises.

In August, the U.S. Navy sent four destroyers alongside a P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft to monitor 11 Russian and Chinese ships that were spotted near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. The ships left the area without incident.

Earlier this year, Russian media reported that Mr. Putin signed a decree to research whether Russia can register property overseas, including former territories. There was some speculation that the decree could be used to declare illegal the Russian sale of Alaska to the United States in the mid-19th century.

“Well, I think I can speak for all of us in the U.S. government to say that certainly he’s not getting it back,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters last month about those reports.

In 2014, Mr. Putin was asked during an event about the sale of Alaska and downplayed its significance.

“We can calculate the equivalent amount, but it was definitely inexpensive. Russia is a northern country with 70 percent of its territory located in the north and the far north. Alaska is not located in the southern hemisphere, either, is it? It’s cold out there as well. Let’s not get worked up about it, all right?” he said at the time.

Reuters contributed to this report.