According to North American Aerospace Defense Command, a stealth US F – 22 aircraft of the United States Military intercepted two Russian bombers that were flanked by a pair of fighter jets as they flew into the space of the coast of Alaska on Wednesday.
The SU – 35 fighter jets escorted the Russian TU – 95 Bear bombers and remained within the international airspace borders but reached as close as 50 miles from Point Hope, Alaska.
The last time that Russian bombers had conducted these type of flights while being accompanied by fighters of this magnitude was 2015 as reported to CNN by a US official.
The US aircraft also spotted a Russian eight – 50 Mainstay surveillance plane that was not intercepted because while it flew in the area, it remained in international airspace.
US military command does not view these flights as a reason for concern, according to US officials, as these flights are considered routine.
Last month, there were four cases in which Russian military aircraft were seen off the coast of Alaska between April 17 and 20th.
While Russians have not deployed these planes for this type of flight since the 2015 and occurrence, senior defense officials adamantly proclaimed last month that the flights pose no risks or cause concern, asserting that the Russians need to boost training because of the recent lack of aircraft availability increase.
North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesperson John Cornelio said that “We haven’t seen this sort of level of activity for a couple of years.” Yet and still, he insists that the activity is neither “unprecedented” nor “unusual.”
The United States military has conducted flights of similar nature along both the Chinese and Russian coasts themselves.