The United States and Canada deploy military aircraft to respond to a Russian threat near Alaska.
Two Russian military aircraft were detected in the area near Alaskan airspace without ever entering sovereign territory.
BarcelonaThe North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) scrambled fighter jets on Wednesday to identify and intercept four Russian military aircraft off Alaska, it said Thursday.
The military agency, which works on defense for the United States and Canada, detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s and two Su-35s operating in the Alaskan air defense identification zone, according to a statement issued Thursday. The Tu-95s are four-engine turboprop strategic bombers designed by the Soviet military to launch long-range cruise missiles with conventional or nuclear payloads. The Su-35s are Russian fighter jets.
NORAD responded to this incursion by mobilizing an E-3, four F-16s, and four KC-135 tanker aircraft. But the Russian aircraft ultimately did not enter Alaskan airspace and remained in the nearby identification zone, which is technically international airspace. Any country's air defense identification zone is an area of international airspace that requires the immediate identification of all aircraft for national security purposes.
