WASHINGTON: Two pairs of Russian military reconnaissance aircraft have been intercepted near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defence Command said on Saturday.

The Russian aircraft entered and remained in the air defence identification zone, a security perimeter in international airspace, for about four hours, the joint US-Canadian command said.

NORAD’s “F-22s, supported by KC-135 Stratotankers and E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft, intercepted two pairs of Russian Tu-142s entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on Saturday, March 14th,” the command reported.

The Russian aircraft never entered sovereign US or Canadian airspace, the command said.

But they “loitered in the vicinity of the US Navy’s ICEX where they are conducting submarine exercises,” NORAD said. ICEX is a naval exercise in the Arctic Ocean.

It was the second time in as many weeks that Russian jets acted similarly.

NORAD is a joint US-Canadian command focused on the defense of the North American airspace.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2020