Camilla Jessen
For the third time in a week, Russian military aircraft were detected in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone.
On September 14, two Russian IL-38 military aircraft were detected and tracked while operating within the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
This is the third incident of its kind in a week, according to a press release from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on September 15.
NORAD confirmed that the Russian planes remained in international airspace and did not breach either US or Canadian territory. The flights were not viewed as a direct threat, the report said.
This latest incident follows two previous events earlier in the week.
On September 11, NORAD tracked two Russian military aircraft in the ADIZ, followed by another encounter on September 13 involving two Tu-142 military planes.
None of these flights entered sovereign airspace.
NORAD defines the ADIZ as a zone of international airspace in which aircraft must be readily identified for national security purposes.
On July 25, US and Canadian fighter jets, including F-16 and F-35 jets and Canadian CF-18s, scrambled to intercept Russian and Chinese bombers operating in the ADIZ. Another instance occurred in mid-August, when NORAD tracked four Russian warplanes in the area.
NORAD emphasized that while these incidents occur frequently, they are closely monitored to ensure the security of US and Canadian airspace.