A key NATO member has been forced to scramble nine fighter jets to intercept Russian warplanes as fears over a possible World War 3 continue to explode. Five Russian war planes were spotted heading towards Alaska, forcing nine US fighters to be launched.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said on Thursday (February 19) that it detected and tracked multiple Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) off Alaska. NORAD detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s, two Su-35s, and one A-50 operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification zone, the US and Canadian defense organization said in a statement. In response, NORAD launched two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3, and four KC-135s to intercept, positively identify, and escort the aircraft.
According to NORAD, the Russian aircraft remained outside U.S. and Canadian airspace. The agency said Russia’s presence in Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone happens routinely and was not viewed as a threat.
In a statement, NORAD said it remains « ready to employ a number of response options in defence of North America ».
Alaska’s ADIZ is the point at which American and Canadian jurisdiction ends and is a « defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security, » NORAD said.
NORAD employs a layered defence network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions.
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In 2024, military officials released new footage showing a tense encounter between a Russian fighter jet operating near Alaska, and a US Air Force F-16 dispatched to intercept it.
In the video, the Russian aircraft approaches from behind the camera before passing the US jet at extremely close range — only a few feet away.
The footage of the September 23, 2024 incident, involving a US pilot acting under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, follows a string of Russian entries into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone just outside US sovereign airspace.
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