United States and Canadian fighter jets intercepted four Russian and Chinese bombers that were flying in international airspace near Alaska on Wednesday, officials said.
This was the first time Chinese military aircraft had been intercepted in the area.
In a statement, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) stated that it “detected, tracked, and intercepted two Russian TU-95 and two PRC [Peoples Republic of China] H-6 military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on July 24, 2024.”
NORAD stated that the intercept was undertaken by American and Canadian fighter jets, and that the Russian and Chinese aircraft remained in international airspace and did not violate American or Canadian airspace.
The United States’ territorial airspace and waters extend 12 nautical miles from the shoreline, however the ADIZ is a zone that reaches 150 miles from the US coastline and requires aircraft to identify themselves.
It is fairly uncommon for Russian bombers flying across the ADIZ to be intercepted, as occurred in February and March.
However, Wednesday’s joint Russian-Chinese flight was the first of its kind in that zone, as well as the first intercept of a Chinese military aircraft near Alaska.
