US Scrambles Jets for ‘Routine’ Intercept of Russian Warplanes
Russian Su 35 fighter jets.
Photographer: Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/APThis article is for subscribers only.
The Pentagon scrambled fighter jets to counter four Russian aircraft that approached but didn’t enter US or Canadian airspace, in what officials described as a routine encounter unrelated to the series of unidentified objects shot down in recent days.
The four aircraft — which included Tu-95 Bear and Su-35 fighters — entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on Monday but remained outside American and Canadian airspace, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement. Two F-16s intercepted them. An aircraft interception involves closely approaching a plane to warn it away.