U.S. fighter jets intercepted four Russian warplanes near Alaska on Tuesday, the second time Kremlin aircraft were in the area in two days.
The Alaskan Region of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) “detected, tracked, positively identified and intercepted four Russian aircraft approaching the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ),” the command said in a Thursday statement.
The Russian aircraft — which included TU-95 BEAR-H bombers and SU-35 and SU-30 fighter aircraft — were intercepted by two NORAD F-35A fighters supported by two F-16 fighters, one E-3 Sentry and two KC-135 Stratotankers.
Officials noted that the Kremlin warplanes remained in the international airspace near America and Canada and did not cross over into the country’s airspace.
NORAD aircraft last intercepted Russian planes just a day prior on Monday. In that case, two F-16s intercepted four Kremlin aircraft.
Before that, Russian planes hadn’t tested the area since October.
The command downplayed the pair of intercepts, noting that “Russian activity near the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative.”
Still, tensions between Washington and Moscow have stayed high due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a conflict that will hit its first anniversary next week.