NORAD intercepts bombers from China, Russia off Alaskan coast

Fighter jets intercepted Chinese and Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska from China and Russia, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced Wednesday.

NORAD said it detected and tracked two Russian TU-95 and two Chinese H-6 military aircraft that were operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday. NORAD said its fighter jets from Canada and the United States intercepted the four aircrafts.

The command said that the bombers did not enter the sovereign airspace of the U.S. or Canada and that they remained in international airspace. It also said that the activity in the zone was not seen as a threat.

The command added that it “will continue to monitor competitor activity near North America and meet presence with presence.”

NORAD explained that an Air Defense Identification Zone “begins where sovereign airspace ends.” The zone is an area of international airspace "that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security," according to the command.

NORAD said in May it was tracking four Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska ADIZ, saying at the time that the activity “occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”