U.S. intercepts 4 Russian bombers and 2 fighter jets near Alaska's coast
Four Russian bombers and two fighter jets were intercepted near the coast of Alaska on Monday by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the organization said in a statement. The Russian planes were entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone when they were intercepted, but they remained in international airspace — never entering American or Canadian airspace, according to NORAD.
"Two of the Russian bombers were intercepted by two F-22s, and a second group of bombers with Su-35 fighters was intercepted later by two additional F-22s," NORAD said.
It said an E-3 "provided overall surveillance."
NORAD fighters intercepted Russian bombers+fighters entering Alaskan ADIZ May 20. 2x Tu-95s were intercepted by 2x F-22s; a second group of 2x Tu-95+2x Su-35 was intercepted later by 2 more F-22’s; NORAD E-3 provided overall surveillance. The aircraft remained in int'l airspace pic.twitter.com/VrNuSWFOQm
— North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) May 21, 2019
The interceptions come amid tensions between Russia and the U.S. As CBS News' Emily Tillett reported last week, a press conference by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, revealed a number of areas where the two nations could not reach a consensus following discussions.
Last September, two Alaska-based U.S. fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers over the Arctic Ocean and last May, a pair of Russian bombers were intercepted near the western coast of Alaska.