Two fighters “intercepted two Russian Tu-95 Bear-H bombers entering the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on June 27,” Norad said in a statement.
The Russian planes “remained in international airspace and did not enter the airspace of the United States or Canada”, specified the North American command.
The air defense identification zone (Adiz) is a perimeter in which air traffic is monitored by the army of one or more countries, beyond its national airspace, to have a reaction time extra in the event of a hostile maneuver.
That of Alaska extends up to about 320 km from the coast.
At a time when tensions between the United States and Russia are high due to nuclear threats from Moscow, the American military has clarified that Russian activity in the American identification zone is “not considered a threat. nor a provocation”.
Interceptions of Russian aircraft in this area very close to the Russian Far East are relatively frequent.
“NORAD uses a multi-layered defense of satellites, ground radars, onboard radars and fighter planes to identify any aircraft and recognize any inappropriate behavior”, nevertheless warned the American army. “We are ready to use a range of options to defend the sovereignty of North America and the Arctic.”
Russia usually conducts extensive military maneuvers at this time of year, the “Grom” exercise, which includes ballistic missile tests.