Canadian and American fighter jets intercepted four Russian and Chinese bombers near Alaska on Wednesday afternoon.
North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, detected and tracked two Russian and two Chinese aircraft near Alaska, sending fighters from Canada and the USA to intercept. The bombers were flying in the Air Defence Identification Zone, international airspace requiring all aircraft to provide identification.
The bombers did not enter sovereign Alaskan or Canadian air space.
NORAD says the Russian and Chinese activity is not seen as a threat, and will continue to monitor the region.
Russian planes have been intercepted there before, but this is the first time any Chinese aircraft have been detected and intercepted, and the first joint operation in the region by those two nations.
The Russian planes were identified as TU-95 bombers. The Chinese planes were identified as H-6 bombers. Both models are capable of launching cruise missiles from the air.
NORAD is a bi-national command between the United States and Canada. NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions.
“NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America, ” concludes the statement from NORAD.
