(NewsGlobal.com)- On Sunday, September 11, two Russian maritime patrol planes were detected and tracked off the coasts of Alaska and Canada, but neither breached US or Canadian airspace.
According to North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, the two aircraft entered and operated within the Alaskan and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ), but the planes remained in international airspace and did not breach the sovereign airspace of either the United States or Canada.
NORAD uses a network of satellites and ground-based radar systems to monitor the ADIZ which extends along the shoreline of Alaska and Canada and, when necessary, will escort foreign military aircraft out of the ADIZ.
However, in a statement on Monday, NORAD said the Russian flights into the North American ADIZ on September 11 were not seen as a threat, “nor is the activity seen as provocative.”
In August, Russian surveillance aircraft entered the North American Air Defense Identification Zone twice during a 2-day period.
In the past, Russian nuclear-capable bombers have entered the North American ADIZ, including two Tu-95 bombers that came within 20 nautical miles of Alaska’s shores in 2020.
In its statement, NORAD said it would “remain ready to employ a number of response options in the defense of North America and Arctic sovereignty.”
