NORAD detected and escorted five Russian military planes from airspace near Alaska Thursday. Two of the planes were Russian Su-35s, similar to the one pictured here from September 2024. File Photo via NORAD/UPI | License Photo
Five Russian planes flew into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone and were escorted out by U.S. planes on Thursday.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command detected the two Tu-95s, two Su-35s, and one A-50 and tracked them in the ADIZ, a NORAD press release said.
NORAD launched two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3, and four KC-135s to intercept, identify and escort the planes until they left the Alaskan ADIZ.
The Russian military aircraft stayed in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian airspace. This activity in the Alaskan ADIZ happens regularly and isn’t seen as a threat, NORAD said.
An ADIZ is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security.
NORAD uses a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter planes to detect and track aircraft, the release said.
A similar event happened in September near Alaska, as it did in August two days in a row. The August event drew attention because it happened soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Alaska to meet with President Donald Trump.
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President Donald Trump speaks alongside Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Thursday. The Trump administration has announced the finalization of rules that revoke the EPA’s ability to regulate climate pollution by ending the endangerment finding that determined six greenhouse gases could be categorized as dangerous to human health. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
