U.S. fighter jets intercept two Russian bombers near Alaska

A pair of U.S. Air Force fighter jets intercepted two long-range Russian bombers near Alaska on Monday.

According to an Oct. 18 press release from NORAD, the joint Canada-U.S. defence group, the American F-16 fighter jets were scrambled on Oct. 17 after two Russian Tu-95 Bear-H bombers were detected entering and flying within the "Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone."

"Canadian and American personnel both from the Alaskan NORAD Region and NORAD Headquarters worked hand-in-hand to coordinate this operation," a NORAD spokesperson told CTVNews.ca.

The Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone is one of several surrounding American and Canadian airspace that require aircraft to be identified in the interest of national security. According to NORAD, the Russian aircraft "remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace" after being "detected, tracked, positively identified and intercepted."

"The recent Russian activity in the North American [Air Defense Identification Zone] is not seen as a threat nor is the activity seen as provocative," the press release added. "NORAD routinely monitors foreign aircraft movements and as necessary, escorts them from the [Air Defense Identification Zone]."

Short for North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD was founded in 1958 by the U.S. and Canada to monitor and defend the continent from airborne threats like Russian bombers and missiles.

This is not the first time Russian aircraft have been tracked near North America. NORAD press releases describe over a half-dozen incidents since 2020 alone; and on Jan. 31, 2020, two long-range Russian bombers were also detected near Canadian airspace. The last case occurred on Sept. 11, and involved "two Russian maritime patrol aircraft entering and operating within the Alaskan and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones."

"Since Russia resumed out-of-area, long-range-aviation activity in 2007, we have seen a yearly average of approximately six-to-seven intercepts of Russian military aircraft in the U.S. or Canadian [Air Defense Identification Zone]," the NORAD spokesperson told CTVNews.ca. "These numbers have varied each year from as high as 15 to as low as zero."

Russian Tu-95 bombers have been in service since the 1950s and have reportedly been used in 2022 to launch missiles at Ukraine. Powered by four turboprop engines and capable of carrying nuclear weapons, they are the only propeller-driven strategic bombers still in operational use.

"NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based radars, airborne radar and fighter aircraft to track and identify aircraft and inform appropriate actions," the Oct. 18 NORAD press release explained. "We remain ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America and Arctic sovereignty."

There have been growing calls for NORAD to upgrade and modernize its ageing defensive systems in order to protect North America against new and emerging threats, like hypersonic weapons. In June, Canada announced it will invest $4.9 billion over six years in NORAD and continental defence.

"This is the most significant upgrade to NORAD, from a Canadian perspective, in almost four decades," Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said at the time.