WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force intercepted two separate Russian bomber formations off the coast of Alaska Wednesday morning.
The U.S. Military used F-22 Raptors, assisted by KC-135 Stratotankers and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System to complete the mission.
The Russian formations were composed of two Tupolev Tu-95 bombers and the other of two Sukhoi Su-35 fighters, along with a Beriev A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft.
According to North American Aerospace Defense Command, one of the Russian aircraft formations came within 20 nautical miles of the Alaskan coast. The other came within 32 nautical miles of the U.S. coast. While the foreign aircraft never entered into U.S. sovereign airspace, they did come within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.
