US Northern Command confirmed on Tuesday that two Russian TU-95 bombers were intercepted off the coast of Alaska on Monday evening.
According to a US official, the interception 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 US shoreline.
The Russian long-range TU-95 Bear bombers breached airspace around the U.S and Canada known as the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone in which aircraft must be readily identified and report details of their course and destination. The Russian bombers stayed in international airspace.
The bombers flew near the Aleutian Islands. The Russians also had maritime patrol aircraft in the vicinity.
The U.S. scrambled two F-22 fighters from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, to intercept the Russian planes.
There was no bridge-to-bridge communication between the US and Russian aircraft, but three U.S. officials said the Russians acted “very professionally.”
While this is the first time Russian bombers have been off the Alaskan coast since 2015, they have flown in the area about 60 times since 2007
