U.S., Canadian Jets Intercept Russian Aircraft off Alaska

U.S. and Canadian fighter jets intercepted Russian aircrafts flying near the western coast of Alaska, military officials said Friday.

Two U.S. F-2 fighter jets intercepted the Russian planes  around 55 nautical miles off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday, said Lt. Col. Michael Jazdyk, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

The Russian fleet consisted of two IL-78 refueling tankers, two Mig-31 fighter jets and two Bear long-range bombers.  The planes flew in a loop and returned to their base in Russia after the   F-22 fighter jets were scrambled, reports the Associated Press.

In another incident, two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets intercepted two Russian Bear long-range bombers on Thursday.  The interception was done about 40 nautical miles off the Canadian coastline in the Beaufort Sea.

The Russian jets did not enter the United States or Canada's sovereign airspace.

However, they entered the Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends approximately 200 miles from the coastline.

Jazdyk said that the US jets were scrambled to let the Russian aircraft know that they had been spotted and also to make them understand that the U.S. jets were there to protect its sovereign airspace in case of a threat.

The interception comes a day after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thanked Canada for supporting Ukraine in its fight with pro-Russian rebels.

 "This is disturbing. We've heard stories like in the past, of Russian bombers challenging Canadian airspace," said James Bezan, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of National Defense and a Conservative MP from Manitoba, Canada.

"This plays into the narrative of a Putin regime that's more aggressive not just in Crimea, not just in Ukraine, but indeed testing their neighbor in their entire region," he added, reports CBC News.

Jets under NORAD have intercepted more than 50 Russian aircrafts near the North American airspace in the last five years.