Thursday 18 / April / 2024
Anchorage: The US intercepted six Russian military planes off the coast of Alaska late Monday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced.
Two American F-22 fighter jets first made contact with a pair of Tu-95 bombers,and later two other F-22s intercepted a second group of Tu-95s and Su-35 fighter jets, NORAD said.
The incident was confirmed by the Russia's Ministry of Defence. In a tweet, the ministry stated that the bombers "made scheduled sorties over the neutral waters of the Chukotka, Bering and Okhotsk seas, as well as along the western coast of Alaska and the northern coast of the Aleutian Islands."
An AWACS surveillance plane monitored the operations, NORAD said, adding that the Russian aircraft were in international airspace throughout.
"Our ability to deter and defeat threats to our citizens and vital infrastructure starts with detecting, tracking and positively identifying aircraft in our airspace. We are on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," NORAD Commander Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy said on the command's Twitter account.
