NORAD fighter jets intercept Russian military aircraft off Alaska

The interception of the Russian Tu-142s marks the 10th time this year that Russian military aircraft have been intercepted off Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD

US F-22 stealth fighter aircraft scrambled on Saturday to intercept four Russian reconnaissance jets off Alaska, said NORAD, the U.S and Canadian defense organization.

This NORAD handout photo released June 17, 2020 shows North American Aerospace Defense Command F-22 Raptors, supported by KC-135 Stratotankers and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, as they successfully completed two intercepts of Russian bomber aircraft formations entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone the night of June 16, 2020. (AFP File)

The interception of the Russian Tu-142s marks the 10th time this year that Russian military aircraft have been intercepted off Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said in a statement.

The Russian aircraft did not enter US or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD said.

The intercepting aircraft are based at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, said a NORAD spokesman, Captain Cameron Hillier.

The incident is one of a series of back-and-forth probes by Russia and the United States this year. On June 19, Russia scrambled fighter jets to intercept two U.S. B-52 bombers flying over the Sea of Okhotsk, off Russia’s far eastern coast, the Interfax news agency reported.