US and Canadian fighter jets intercept Russian planes near Alaska

U.S. and Canadian fighter jets scrambled on July 22 to intercept Russian warplanes flying near the Bering Sea as two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers and two Russian Su-35 Flanker fighter jets flew into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), a buffer area outside of American and Canadian airspace where foreign military and commercial aircraft are monitored. This is the 11th such incursion this year.

The ADIZ covers millions of square miles, including large portions of the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the northern Pacific. It also encompasses the entire Aleutian Island chain. Aircraft are permitted to fly in the zone as long as they identify themselves to air traffic controllers with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, a joint American Canadian organization that protects the airspace of both countries.

NORAD scrambled six fighter to intercept, identify, and monitor the Russian aircraft, which escorted the Russian planes until they left the Alaskan zone.

“I want to commend our outstanding Alaska-based service members who safely conducted yet another complicated and dangerous intercept mission,” Senator Dan Sullivan wrote on his social media.

NORAD has had to increasingly monitor Russian and Chinese aircraft and ships in the region. The Chinese air force has also joined patrols alongside Russian aircraft. In July 2024, NORAD intercepted a Chinese Xi’an H-6 bomber. It was patrolling the Alaskan identification zone accompanied by Russian TU-95s.

“The escalating aggression that we are seeing from the Russians and Chinese in the North Pacific underscore the need for greater military investment in America’s Arctic, including working to reopen the Naval Bases at Adak.”