Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday the joint Chinese and Russian aircraft flight near Alaskan airspace a day earlier was the “first time” the U.S. has detected a joint flight between the two nations.
Austin, speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon, said it was “not a surprise” to detect the Russian and Chinese aircraft because forces had extensively tracked and monitored the flight, but he noted that it was unprecedented.
“This is the first time that we’ve seen these two countries fly together like that,” he said, adding the flight was potentially a test. “They’re always testing us and and that’s no surprise to any of us.”
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said Wednesday it detected two Russian TU-95 and two Chinese H-6 strategic bombers operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, which is an international zone but one where nations seek to identify who is flying in the area.
After detection, U.S. jets intercepted the four Chinese and Russian military aircraft, according to NORAD.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the patrol was not directed at other countries and that air crews had “practiced cooperation while carrying out an air patrol mission in a new area” in the Chukchi Sea, the Bering Sea and the northern part of the Pacific Ocean.
“Foreign fighter jets escorted the air group at certain stages of the route. While performing the mission, both countries’ aircraft acted in strict compliance with international law,” the ministry said in a statement shared by Russian state-run news agency TASS. “There were no violations of other countries’ airspace.”
Austin said the Chinese and Russian aircraft did not enter U.S. airspace and were at the closest point about 200 miles off the American coast. But the joint flight underscored the growing cooperation between Russia and China.
“This is a relationship that we have been concerned about, mostly because we’re concerned about China providing support to Russia’s illegal and unnecessary war in Ukraine,” said Austin.
China has been accused of supplying nonlethal technology to Russia that Moscow has used to support the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Western security alliance NATO said in an official communique that China was a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine in the strongest language yet to accuse Beijing.
China and Russia have also conducted joint maritime drills across the globe, including in the Arctic, where the U.S. is pushing to challenge their presence.
Austin said regardless of what message Beijing and Moscow were trying to send, U.S. troops would “always be at the ready.”
“We’re going to defend this nation,” he said. “If there is a challenge or a threat to the United States of America, your troops will be at the ready.”