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The US Air Force's F-22 stealth fighter jets intercepted Saturday two Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers near Alaska, confirmed the Russian Defense Ministry.
The incident, reported for the first time by the Washington Free Beacon on Thursday, took place outside US sovereign airspace before Russia's largest military exercise in modern history.
"Two Alaska-based NORAD F-22 fighter aircraft intercepted and visually identified two Tu-95 Long Bear bomber aircraft flying in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone at south of the Aleutian Islands, "said Michael Kucharek. American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, told The Free Beacon.
"The two Russian Tu-95 fighter planes were intercepted and guarded by the F-22s until the bombers left ADIZ along the chain of Aleutian Islands," Kucharek said. . .
But while the incident resolves itself peacefully, a defense official told The Free Beacon that Russian bombers may have fired a cruise missile at American missile defense sites and radar in Alaska .
Alaska, the closest US state to Russia, contains some of the most advanced US anti-missile and radar defense facilities, which function as the eyes and ears of most strategic assets of the United States. American army. If war broke out between the United States and Russia, these sites in Alaska would probably be the first targets.
Striking on key US targets is broadly consistent with the stated goals of Russia's massive military exercise, scheduled to take place in the Eastern Region next week. Earlier reports have suggested that Russia and China, which are joining parts of the exercise, would simulate a nuclear war.
In addition, Russian bombers may have tried to test the response time of the United States.
On the Mediterranean, where Russia and its Syrian ally were besieging Idlib, the last bastion of Syrian rebels, Russian planes have been refueling and extending their reach, Russian media reported.
The Tu-95 is a cold-warfare propeller bomber that has often been intercepted in Alaska and elsewhere in recent years. The F-22 is the most advanced combat aircraft in the world and one of the most stealthy aircraft available.
