US Fighters Intercept Russian Aircraft off Alaska 3 Times in a Week: NORAD

An E-3, two F-16s, and two KC-135 tankers scrambled to intercept and identify the Russian plane, the joint U.S.–Canadian military command said.

F-16 fighter jets in flight. Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters, file photo

U.S. fighter jets were scrambled for a third time in less than a week on Aug. 24 to intercept Russian military planes flying near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement.

On the evening of Aug. 24, NORAD confirmed that it detected and tracked a Russian IL-20 COOT surveillance aircraft that was operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).