Russian Bombers Pushing The Limit With "Training" Missions

Russian bombers on training missions intercepted by U.S. fighter jets off coast off Alaska

Training excercises conducted by Russian bombers and reconnaissance aircraft over international waters near Alaska have triggered several alarms for U.S. fighter jets to check out their activity, but the aircrafts never entered U.S. airspace, NORAD officials say.

BY NICOLE HENSLEY  

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Friday, August 8, 2014, 11:57 AM

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SASHA MORDOVETS/GETTY IMAGESU.S. fighter jets spotted a Russian Tupolev TU-142 on multiple ocassions near Alaska in the past 10 days.

Russian military aircraft have darted close to U.S. and Canadian airspace near Alaska on training missions, but they were nowhere close to violating either nation’s borders, NORAD officials say.

The flights are part of an uptick of activity in and near the Alaska air defense identification zone that have sent U.S. fighter jets in a hurry to intercept the aircraft, Preston Schlachter, a spokesman for NORAD, told the Daily News.

The zone covers parts of the Aleutian archipelago, the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska.

Schlachter said the aircraft never entered U.S. sovereign airspace, but flew over international waters.

The air defense zone begins about 12 nautical miles from the coast and goes out at least 200 miles from the coast in some areas.

The planes have been visually identified by U.S. fighter jets as strategic bombers, the Tupolev Tu-95s, also known as a “Bear,” and a reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-142, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

DMITRIY PICHUGIN VIA WIKIPEDIA COMMONSThe bombers and spy plane were escorted by Russian MiG-31 jets during the July 30 excercise.Enlarge

YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGESRussian wire reports said a Tupolev Tu-95, a reconnaissance aircraft pictured, and bombers flew over the arctic on July 30 on a training mission.Enlarge

FAAThe Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone.

Several Russian bombers escorted by a MiG-31 interceptor flew over the Arctic on July 30 to patrol and search for foreign submarines and conduct scientific missions, reported Itar-TASS, a Russian news wire service.

The flights were reportedly scheduled in advance and did not trespass into any countries, the report said.

Four Tu-95s were spotted practicing bombing runs near Alaska in June and flying within 50 miles of the California coast.

In April, a Russian jet passive-aggressively buzzed a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of Okhotsk along the Siberian coast.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/russian-bombers-spotted-u-s-fighter-jets-alaska-article-1.1896572#ixzz39tyoA5iP