The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) located and tracked four russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). The incident occurred on Tuesday, February 7, ABC News reports.
"The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat," the statement said.
The statement also clarifies that the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone is an area that stretches out 150 miles (241.4 km) from the U.S. coast, where the U.S. requires identification from all aircraft.
NORAD said it monitors aircraft in the region with a "layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft," and is always "ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America."
In turn, the russian Ministry of Defense published a press release about the long-range training flight of bombers to the Arctic, which says that two Tu-160 strategic missile carriers flew over the neutral waters of the Arctic Ocean and the Laptev Sea for more than 10 hours. It is likely that these aircraft were involved in the incident near Alaska.
“The flight was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace,” said the commander of long-range aviation, Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash,
Strategic bombers Tu-160, Tu-95MS and long-range bombers Tu-22M3 are part of the long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces of the russian federation. These long-range aircraft are an air component of the russian nuclear triad.
As previously reported, British intelligence said that after the loss of A-50, the russian federation uses the new aircraft more carefully.
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