In recent hours, bombers and fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces were once again detected and intercepted by U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-16 fighters operating in the Alaska ADIZ, as officially reported today by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The incident, reported yesterday, is the first officially acknowledged by NORAD in September, following an August in which several detections were made in the ADIZ, though involving platforms specialized in signals intelligence collection.
NORAD stated that on September 24, it intercepted two Tu-95 strategic bombers escorted by Su-35S and Su-30SM fighters of the Russian Aerospace Forces while operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone. The aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter the sovereign airspace of the United States or Canada.
As has been pointed out on several occasions, the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) should not be confused with sovereign airspace, “… but rather refers to a defined area that begins where sovereign airspace ends and extends into international airspace, established as a zone in which the rapid identification of incoming aircraft is required as part of established security protocols,” as noted previously.
Regarding the incident, NORAD reported that a total of nine USAF aircraft were deployed to visually identify and “positively” intercept the Russian planes: an E-3 Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft, four F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters, and four KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft. “This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat,” NORAD stated, adding that this was the ninth such episode disclosed this year.
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the aircraft involved were carrying out a scheduled patrol flight over the waters of the Bering and Okhotsk Seas, where the Tu-95MS bombers were escorted by Su-35S and Su-30MS fighters. It was also specified that the flight lasted more than 14 hours and was conducted in strict compliance with international airspace regulations.
Along the same lines, this is the first Russian aircraft presence disclosed in September since the last one reported on August 24, when IL-20 Coot signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft were intercepted operating in international airspace in the north of the continent. According to various sources, the aircraft were monitoring the Northern Edge Exercise taking place in Alaska. As with yesterday’s incident, the activity was tracked by the U.S. Air Force, which also deployed F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters, supported by an E-3 Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft and two KC-135 Stratotanker refueling planes.
Images used for illustrative purposes only.
You may also like: The U.S. Navy confirmed the launch of a Trident II D5LE ballistic missile from one of its Ohio-class nuclear submarines
