ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Military officials have released new footage of a surprising encounter between a Russian fighter jet flying near Alaska and a U.S. Air Force F-16 sent to intercept it. .
In the video released on Monday, a Russian plane comes from behind the camera and quickly approaches a US military plane just meters from the plane.
On September 23, footage of a close encounter with a US pilot was released under the command of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, following a series of Russian incursions into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends beyond US sovereign airspace. It’s something like that.
The exchange drew condemnation from NORAD’s top official and one of Alaska’s U.S. senators.
“The actions of a single Russian Su-35 were unsafe, unprofessional, and put everyone at risk. It is not something you would see in a professional air force,” said Gregory, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command. General Guyot said. NORAD aircraft conducted a “safe and disciplined” routine flight to intercept the Russian aircraft, he added.
The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Monday.
The Russian plane’s approach comes just weeks after eight Russian military planes and four naval vessels, including two submarines, approached Alaska during joint training exercises between China and Russia.
Neither plane violated U.S. airspace. However, about 130 U.S. soldiers were sent with mobile rocket artillery to Shemya Island, about 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. They were deployed to the Aleutian Islands for a week before returning to base.
In July, Russian and Chinese bombers flew together for the first time in international airspace off the coast of Alaska, but U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the signs of cooperation raised concerns.
In 2022, a U.S. Coast Guard ship encountered three Chinese and four Russian naval vessels traveling in single formation about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of Kiska Island, Alaska, in the Bering Sea.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said the approach of Russian planes is another reason to build a U.S. military presence in Alaska and the Arctic.
“On September 23, a Russian fighter pilot’s reckless and unprofessional maneuver within Alaska’s ADIZ, within just a few feet of an Alaska-based fighter jet, cost the lives of brave airmen. “It puts them at risk and highlights the escalation of aggression by dictators like the one we are witnessing from President Vladimir Putin,” Sullivan said in a statement.
