Nine US fighter jets have been launched after five Russian war planes were spotted heading towards Alaska.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said on Thursday it detected and tracked multiple Russian military aircrafts operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) off Alaska.
NORAD detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s, two Su-35s, and one A-50 operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification zone, the US and Canadian defense organization said in a statement.
NORAD said it responded by launching two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3, and four KC-135s to intercept, positively identify, and escort the aircraft.
The Russian military aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD said, adding that the aircraft were escorted until they departed the Alaskan ADIZ.
The Alaskan ADIZ is an area of international airspace that begins where US and Canadian sovereign airspace ends.
NORAD says it is a ‘defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security.’
In September of last year, the US also scrambled fighter jets to intercept Russian Tu-95s and Su-35s spotted in the Alaskan ADIZ.
That came just weeks after a Russian IL-20 COOT aircraft was intercepted by NORAD four times in a week.
