Russian Tu-142 Maritime Patrol Aircraft Intercepted Near Alaska and Canada ADIZ

 

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked two Tupolev Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft operating within the Alaskan and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) on Wednesday, according to information reported by Defense News.

In response, NORAD launched a sizeable interception package to monitor and identify the aircraft. The allied response included two F-35 Lightning II fighters, two F-22 Raptor air-superiority aircraft, four KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, and one E-3 Sentry airborne early warning aircraft. Canada also contributed two CF-18 Hornet fighters and one CC-150 Polaris tanker to the operation.

According to NORAD, the Russian aircraft remained in international airspace at all times and did not enter the sovereign airspace of either the United States or Canada. The command emphasized that such flights occur regularly and are not currently assessed as a direct threat.

“This Russian activity in the Alaskan and Canadian ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat,” NORAD stated.

The Tupolev Tu-142 is a long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft developed during the Soviet era and still operated today by the Russian Navy. The aircraft is designed for extended overwater missions, including submarine detection, maritime surveillance, and strategic patrol operations. 

An Air Defense Identification Zone extends beyond a country's sovereign airspace into international airspace. Within this zone, approaching aircraft are required to identify themselves so that air defense authorities can monitor and assess potential threats. The system allows for early warning and reaction without implying sovereignty over the airspace.

The latest intercept follows a similar event on February 19, when NORAD tracked a formation of five Russian military aircraft operating near Alaska’s ADIZ. That group included two Tupolev Tu-95 bombers, two Sukhoi Su-35 fighters, and one Beriev A-50 airborne early warning aircraft.

NORAD responded to that earlier flight with two F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters and two F-35 Lightning II aircraft, supported by an E-3 Sentry and four KC-135 Stratotanker tankers. As with the most recent incident, the Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and were not considered a threat.

Headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, NORAD operates a layered defense system that includes satellites, ground-based radar, airborne sensors, and fighter aircraft. This integrated network allows the command to detect, track, and respond to aircraft approaching North American airspace.

While such intercepts are routine, they illustrate the continuous monitoring conducted over the Arctic and North Pacific—regions that remain strategically important for both NATO and Russia.

NORAD: Russia Increasing Arctic Long Range Air Patrols

While Russian military aircraft have stepped up their activity everywhere from the North Sea to the Baltic to the Black Sea in the last year they have also been spotted more frequently closer to the U.S. territory in the Arctic, the head NORAD told on Tuesday.
Flights of Tupolev Tu-95 Bear ‘H’ Bombers have increased recently and they’ve been very aggressive in the Arctic in the amount of flights, not aggressive in how they fly.
Since the March seizure of the Ukrainian region of Crimea by Russian forces Moscow has significantly stepped up air patrols in Europe, Asia and near the Americas.
The flights extend as far North as the edge of American air space near Alaska and as far South as U.S. holdings in Guam.
In December, two Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornets intercepted a two Bears near the Beaufort Sea entering a U.S. and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
NATO interdicted a record number of Russian flights in 2014 and the Russians claim likewise the U.S. has stepped up its own flights near Russian territory.
usni

'Unresponsive Aircraft': Plane Crashes After F-15 Chase Over Atlantic, two people have killed

A turboprop plane that stopped responding to radio calls and flew hundreds of miles off course — prompting a chase by two F-15 fighter jets — crashed off the coast of Jamaica on Friday afternoon, NBC News has learned.
The pilot had been spotted “unconscious and slumped over” in the cockpit, U.S. officials told NBC News. NORAD, the joint American and Canadian air command, said on Twitter that the people on board might be suffering from oxygen deprivation.
The plane was registered to Rochester, New York, real estate developer Larry Glazer. He and his wife Jane were the only people on board, their son, Ken, told CNBC.
The plane, a six-seater Socata model TBM-700, took off just before 8:30 a.m. ET from Rochester and was headed for Naples, Florida. The FAA said it stopped responding to radio calls about an hour and a half later.
Fighter jets were dispatched but broke off the trail after the plane entered Cuban airspace. The F-15s "circled around" and resumed the chase as the small plane exited Cuba's territorial waters, officials said.
A map provided by FlightAware, a flight tracking service, put the plane over Cuba, hundreds of miles away from its intended landing point in Naples. Its path sent it toward the eastern end of Jamaica.
Glazer, founder of Buckingham Properties, is a veteran pilot who is president of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association.
nbcnews

Russian Bombers Fly 50 Miles off California. F-22s and F-15s intercept them

Four Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers triggered U.S. air defense systems while conducting practice bombing runs near Alaska this week, with two of the Tu-95 Bear H aircraft coming within 50 miles of the California coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) confirmed Wednesday.
The last time it was saw anything similar was two years ago on the Fourth of July.
The latest Bear H incursions began Monday around 4:30 p.m. Pacific time when radar detected the four turbo-prop powered bombers approaching the U.S. air defense zone near the far western Aleutian Islands.
Two U.S. Air Force F-22 jets were scrambled and intercepted the bombers over the Aleutians.
After tracking the bombers as they flew eastward, two of the four Bears turned around and headed west toward the Russian Far East.
The remaining two nuclear-capable bombers then flew southeast and around 9:30 pm entered the U.S. northern air defense zone off the coast of Northern California.
Two U.S. F-15 jets were deployed and intercepted the bombers as they eventually flew within 50 miles of the coast before turning around and heading west.
The four bombers also were supported by two IL-78 aerial refueling tankers that were used for mid-air refueling during the operation.
The aircraft acted professionally. The bombers appeared to be conducting a training mission.
They typically do long range aviation training in the summer and it is not unusual for them to be more active during this time, and they did not enter territorial airspace.
The bomber incursion is the latest Russian nuclear saber-rattling amid stepped up tensions over Moscow’s military annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea.
A member of the House Armed Services Committee, called the Russian flights “intentional provocations.”
The Alaska-California bombers flight also came a month after a Russian Su-27 interceptor jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft flying over the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan.
In that incident on April 23, the Su-27 jet flew close to the RC-135, turned to reveal its air-to-air missiles to the crew, and then flew dangerously close to within 100 feet of the cockpit in a maneuver military officials called reckless.
In the past 10 years, 50 Bear H bombers were intercepted near U.S. air defense zone, although he Monday’s flight near California was unusual.
In February 2013, two of the bombers were intercepted as they circled the U.S. Pacific island of Guam, in a rare long-range incursion.
Two Bear Hs also were intercepted near Alaska on April 28, 2013.
A Russian Bear H incursion in Asia took place in in July 2013 when two Tu-95s were intercepted by Japanese and South Korean jets near the Korean peninsula and Japan’s northern Hokkaido Island.
The July 4, 2012 bomber flights near the West Coast were the first time since the Cold War that Russian jets has traveled so close to the U.S. coastline.
That action followed an earlier intrusion by Tu-95s near Alaska that were part of large-scale strategic nuclear exercises by the Russians aimed at practicing strikes on enemy air defenses.
Russia has stepped up provocative nuclear war games in recent years as part of propaganda efforts to display Moscow’s dislike of U.S. missile defenses in Europe.
freebeacon

EL NORAD INTERCEPTA A PAPÁ NOEL/ NORAD TRACKING SANTA

Estos días, el NORAD, encargado de la Defensa Aérea de Estados Unidos y Canadá, no se enfrenta a las amenazas habituales, sino que intenta dar cobertura en su viaje a Papá Noel por todo el mundo.
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Página de seguimiento de Papá Noel del NORAD/ Norad tracking Santa