Particle.news
Download on the App Store
8 ARTICLES
·
3d ago

NORAD Sends F-35s and F-22s to Track Two Russian Tu-142s Near Alaska

NORAD characterized the encounter as routine with the Russian planes remaining in international airspace.

An earlier Mar. 9, 2020, image of an interception in the Alaskan ADIZ, showing an F-22 Raptor escorting a Russian Tu-142. (Image credit: NORAD courtesy photo)
Jones Beach, New York, USA - 29 May 2022: A sleek, gray F-35 Lightning II fighter jet flies through a blue sky with scattered white clouds. The aircraft is in mid-flight, its wings angled slightly upward, leaving a faint contrail in its wake.
St. Petersburg, Russia - July 23, 2017: The IL-78 airplane fills the Tu-142 in the sky over the center of St. Petersburg in the summer
Image

Overview

  • On March 4, the command detected two Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft operating in the Alaskan and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones.
  • NORAD dispatched 2 F-35As, 2 F-22s, 2 Canadian CF-18s, 4 KC-135 tankers, 1 E-3 AWACS and 1 CC-150 tanker to identify and monitor the aircraft.
  • NORAD stated the planes did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace and the activity is not viewed as a threat.
  • This was the second 2026 encounter near Alaska, following a Feb. 19 intercept of Tu-95 bombers with Su-35 fighters and an A-50 early warning aircraft.
  • Specialized reporting noted the 12-aircraft response as one of NORAD’s larger recent packages, and the flight occurred during the Arctic Edge 26 exercise.