Russian warplanes have been detected off the coast of Alaska in a terrifying escalation, military officials said Tuesday.
Officials with the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Russian aircraft never entered American or Canadian airspace.
Authorities did not name the type of Russian aircraft, how many flew close to the coast nor what their purpose was. The Russian planes remained in international airspace, but reportedly crossed into a region named the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is beyond sovereign US airspace.
Aircraft are expected to identify themselves in the ADIZ, and NORAD says it surveils the area to maintain national security.
It comes just two months after US fighter jets were scrambled to the ADIZ region twice in three days when Russian military aircraft, including bombers, were also detected. That incident first saw two bombers and two fighter jets buzz near Alaska, and after they were shadowed away by US aircraft, Russia followed it two days later by sending two more jets in a show of force.
And in September, Russian aircraft came dangerously close to colliding with a US fighter jet as shocking footage showed the Russian pilot turn at the last second to avoid a crash.
US officials say instances of Russian aircraft violating ADIZ airspace come as the nation has been stepping up its hostile approach to the US.
NORAD said Tuesday that although the incidents are repeating, the aircraft spotted near Alaska this week were “not seen as a threat.”
The defense authority said in a press release following the detection of the Russian warplanes that “Russian activity in Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly.” It explained that the ADIZ region “begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security.”
“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,” the press release read.
“NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America.”
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