Dramatic video shows Russian fighter jet flying dangerously close to aircraft off Alaska, NORAD says
A Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to aircraft deployed by the North American Aerospace Defense Command off the coast of Alaska, according to a video posted Monday by NORAD.
In the 15-second video posted to social media, a military jet can be seen flying just feet away from a NORAD aircraft as it speeds by, banking to its left and right. NORAD said it had deployed planes to fly a "safe and disciplined intercept" of the Russian aircraft in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, a zone that is beyond U.S. sovereign air space, but an area in which aircraft are expected to identify themselves.
"The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you'd see in a professional air force," Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said the incident is another reason to build America's military presence in Alaska and the Arctic.
"The reckless and unprofessional maneuvers of Russian fighter pilots - within just a few feet of our Alaska-based fighters - in Alaska's ADIZ on September 23 put the lives of our brave Airmen at risk and underscore the escalating aggression we're witnessing from dictators like Vladimir Putin," the Republican lawmaker said in a statement.
The video was released a week after NORAD said four Russian military planes were detected and tracked off the coast of Alaska. Those aircraft were spotted just days after about 130 U.S. soldiers were temporarily deployed to a remote Alaska island with mobile rocket launchers amid a spike in Russian military activity off the western reaches of the U.S.
The deployment coincided with eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, traveling close to Alaska as Russia and China conducted joint military drills. None of the planes breached U.S. airspace.
NORAD previously said it detected and tracked Russian military planes operating off Alaska over four days on Sept. 11, Sept. 13, Sept. 14 and Sept. 15.
In July, two Russian Tu-95s and two Chinese H-6s entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, NORAD said. The bombers were intercepted by U.S. F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, along with Canadian CF-18s and other support aircraft, a U.S. defense official confirmed to CBS News.
The frequency of Russian airplanes entering the zone varies yearly. NORAD has said the average was six or seven a year, but it has increased recently. There were 26 instances last year and 25 so far this year.
Earlier this month, Japan said its warplanes used flares to warn a Russian reconnaissance aircraft to leave northern Japanese airspace.
