MOSCOW – Russian warplanes intercepted by United States Air Force nearAlaska, said US commanders.
According to details, four Russian reconnaissance aircraft near Alaskaintercepted near Alaska. The Russian Tu-142’s came within 65 nautical milessouth of Alaska’s Aleutian island chain and “loitered” in the Alaskan AirDefense Identification Zone (ADIZ) for eight hours.
But they stayed in international airspace and did not enter US or Canadianairspace, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said.
An ADIZ; a perimeter within which air traffic monitored by the air forcesof one or more friendly countries so they have extra time to react tohostile action.
The US has established four of these zones but a dozen or so othercountries have also set their own up.
Read Top Stories
This was the fourth time this month that US planes have intercepted Russianaircraft near Alaska.
The Tupolev Tu-142 is a Soviet/Russian maritime reconnaissance andanti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft derived from the Tu-95 turbopropstrategic bomber.
