The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) intercepted Chinese and Russian bombers near Alaska.
“The Russian and PRC aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” a press release states.
“NORAD detected, tracked, and intercepted two Russian TU-95 and two PRC H-6 military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on July 24, 2024. NORAD fighter jets from the United States and Canada conducted the intercept,” it continued.
NORAD said the activity is “not seen as a threat,” and will “continue to monitor competitor activity near North America and meet presence with presence.”
Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said that Alaska “continues to be on the frontlines of the authoritarian aggression by the dictators in Russia and China who are increasingly working together. Make no mistake, this is an escalation—the first time Russia and China have sent a joint bomber task-force into the Alaska ADIZ. Fortunately, our brave military members working closely with our Canadian allies were ready, conducting joint operations to intercept these bombers.”
He added that the Arctic is a “critical area of strategic competition between the U.S., Russia and China.”
“As I have been warning our Pentagon leaders for years, these kinds of joint Russia and China incursions on the sea and in the air near Alaska will continue,” Sullivan said. “For that reason, the United States needs to continue to build up our military forces and the infrastructure that goes with it in Alaska to protect our nation’s vital interests in the Arctic and the INDOPACOM theater.”
The Pentagon said earlier this week that Russia and China are “increasingly” working together in the Arctic “across multiple instruments of national power.”
“While significant areas of disagreement between the PRC and Russia remain, their growing alignment in the region is of concern, and (the Department of Defense) continues to monitor this cooperation,” the Pentagon added.
