U.S. and Canadian fighter aircraft intercepted Russian planes off the Alaska coast, but it was not considered a hostile incident, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Friday.
NORAD said the aircraft never violated U.S. or Canadian airspace in the incident Thursday, But fighters were launched because the Russians had entered a zone around North America in which NORAD considers uninvited aircraft to be potential threatening.
The Tu-95 Bear heavy bombers had been participating in an annual Russian air force exercise near the coast of Alaska and Canada, NORAD said. It did not specify how many Russian planes were involved.
“This wasn’t treated as a hostile. It was just being vigilant and letting them know that NORAD is alive and well,” said Canadian Air Force Capt. Jennifer Faubert, a spokeswoman for NORAD’s Canadian Region.
Faubert said the last time there was a similar interception was in April, but she declined to say if the incident could be described as a common occurrence.
