Since the events of September 11, 2001, Operation Eagle handles all air defense and air sovereignty missions over North American airspace, including responding to aerial hijackings and watching the U.S.’s aerial frontier for possible intrusions. The Air Force monitors the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) as part of Operation Noble Eagle. The Russian flights are typically carried out by Tu-95 “Bear” bombers, Il-38 May maritime patrol aircraft, Il-38N maritime surveillance aircraft, and in September 2020, Sukhoi Su-35E “Flanker-E” twin-engine fighter jets. While the aircraft in Russia’s Aerospace Forces don’t actually come near Alaskan airspace, they do require the Air Force to sortie a number of planes, from F-22 Raptors to tankers, to meet them. Air Force units stationed in Alaska, near America’s frozen border with Russia, say intercepts rose to 60 a year in 2020, up from just 10 in 2015, according to Air Force Times. An air defense identification zone is a self-declared area of airspace surrounding a country or territory within which it will seek to identify foreign military aircraft. airspace, but they do require a response by Air Force fighters.Ī rise in Russian military aircraft venturing near North America is straining Air Force crews who must meet them in the air.
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