US stealth fighters intercept Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska

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by: CNN

Posted: May 12, 2018 / 04:44 PM EDT

Updated: May 12, 2018 / 04:44 PM EDT

Two Russian TU-95 “Bear” bombers were intercepted by US F-22 stealth fighters in international airspace off the coast of Alaska on Friday, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command.

The Russian long-range bombers flew into the Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends approximately 200 miles off Alaska’s western coast.

“At approximately 10 a.m. ET, two Alaskan-based NORAD F-22 fighters intercepted and visually identified two Russian TU-95 ‘Bear’ long-range bomber aircraft flying in the Air Defense Identification Zone around the western coast of Alaska, north of the Aleutian Islands,” NORAD and USNORTHCOM spokesman Canadian Army Maj. Andrew Hennessy said in a statement.

The Russian aircraft were “intercepted and monitored by the F-22s until the bombers left the ADIZ along the Aleutian Island chain heading west,” and never entered US airspace, according to the statement.

The last such intercept of Russian aircraft by US jets took place on May 3, 2017.