U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) confirmed Tuesday that two
Russian TU-95 bombers were intercepted off the coast of Alaska on Monday
evening.
According to a U.S. official, the intercept occurred 100
nautical miles south of Kodiak Island. The Russian aircraft were in
international airspace throughout the encounter as American airspace extends 12
nautical miles from the U.S. shoreline.
However, NORTHCOM confirmed to ABC News that the Russian
planes were in the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which stretches
200 miles out from shore.
An Air Defense Identification Zone is airspace that is
monitored in the interest of national security where aircraft are required to
identify themselves.
Two F-22 fighter jets and one E-3 Sentry reconnaissance
plane from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska intercepted the Russian bombers
for a short time, and then flew alongside the bombers as they turned away from
the ADIZ, the official said.
This is the first time that Russian aircraft have approached
North America in some time.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has no
records of intercepts of Russian aircraft in all of 2016, and the previous
intercept dates all the way back to the summer of 2015.
NAN.
