US navy officers on Monday launched a video of an in depth encounter between a Russian fighter jet and a US Air Power F-16 close to Alaska.
This incident occurred on September 23, when the Russian plane approached from behind and handed very near the US jet, as proven within the video.
The North American Aerospace Protection Command (NORAD), which directed the US pilot, shared the video of the incident on the social media platform X.
“On Sept. 23, 2024, NORAD plane flew a secure and disciplined intercept of Russian navy plane within the Alaska ADIZ,” NORAD posted on X.
The encounter occurred after a number of Russian planes entered the Alaska Air Protection Identification Zone, which lies simply outdoors US sovereign airspace.
Common Gregory Guillot, commander of NORAD and US Northern Command, criticized the Russian pilot’s actions. “The conduct of 1 Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered everybody — not what you’d count on from knowledgeable air power,” Guillot stated. He added that the NORAD plane adopted a “secure and disciplined” interception process.
The shut cross occurred just a few weeks after Russian navy planes and navy vessels, together with submarines, approached Alaska throughout joint drills with China. Though not one of the plane entered US airspace, roughly 130 US troopers had been quickly stationed on Shemya Island, about 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage, earlier than returning to their bases.
US senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the US Senate Armed Providers Committee, stated the latest incident highlights the necessity to strengthen America’s navy presence in Alaska and the Arctic. “The reckless and unprofessional maneuvers of Russian fighter pilots — inside just some ft of our Alaska-based fighters — in Alaska’s ADIZ on September 23 put the lives of our courageous airmen in danger and underscore the escalating aggression we’re witnessing from dictators like Vladimir Putin,” Sullivan stated.
In July, Russian and Chinese language bombers flew collectively in worldwide airspace close to Alaska for the primary time, signaling elevated cooperation between the 2 international locations. In 2022, a US Coast Guard ship encountered a formation of Chinese language and Russian naval vessels within the Bering Sea, about 85 miles north of Alaska’s Kiska Island.
