NORAD Scrambles Jets Over Alaska ADIZ

On Sept. 24, NORAD scrambled U.S. and Canadian aircraft — an E-3 Sentry, four F-16s and four KC-135 tankers — to identify two Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighters detected operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). NORAD said the Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace. The encounter was described as the second similar episode in under a month and is part of a broader pattern of heightened Russian aerial activity that has included alleged incursions near Estonia and Poland and drone incidents near Denmark. Officials and analysts say such flights help test U.S. and NATO readiness, and the episode coincided with heightened rhetoric at the U.N. about tougher responses to airspace violations.