From Sudouest.fr with AFP
Published on 02/14/2023 at 23:00
This Russian presence “arrives regularly and was not considered a threat,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command said
Two American warplanes intercepted four Russian planes near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) said on Tuesday.
This “routine” interception of Russian aircraft, including models of the Tu-95 heavy bomber and Su-35 fighter, took place on Monday, Norad said in a statement. This is an operation consisting of escorting a potentially competing aircraft that is deemed too close to or has invaded an airspace. “Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not invade US or Canadian sovereign airspace,” he added, noting that such Russian activities “occurred regularly and were not considered a threat or provocative activity.”
If this interception was a routine operation, in February the fighter jets based in North America had the opportunity to conduct real and rare offensive air strikes by shooting down a Chinese balloon off the east coast, which Washington has described as a spy of the country and three other unidentified flying objects.