American and Canadian fighter jets intercepted Russian and Chinese long-range bombers operating over international waters near Alaska on July 24, according to the joint U.S. and Canadian aerospace command and the Russian military, with some reports indicating that it was the first time that Chinese aircraft were intercepted near Alaska.
Two Chinese H-6 and two Russian TU-95 strategic bombers were detected, tracked, and intercepted on July 24 while operating in the Alaska air defense identification zone (ADIZ), a buffer zone in international airspace, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed the encounter in a statement, describing it as a joint air patrol over the Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea, and the northern part of the Pacific Ocean.
The Chinese and Russian military activity was not threatening, NORAD said, adding that the foreign aircraft did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace.
“This Russian and [People’s Republic of China] activity in the Alaska ADIZ is not seen as a threat, and NORAD will continue to monitor competitor activity near North America and meet presence with presence,” the joint command said in a statement.
NORAD said in a post on social media platform X that it had “employed a layered defense network of fighter aircraft, satellites, and ground-based and airborne radars in seamless interoperability” in order to carry out the mission, with photos of the encounter provided by NORAD showing that the interception was carried out by U.S. F-16s and F-35s and Canadian C-18s.
Moscow stated that Russian Su-30 and Su-35 jet fighters provided air cover for the bombers and that the joint patrol lasted for more than five hours.
“During the patrol, the aircraft of both counters strictly obeyed the provision of the international law,” Russia’s Ministry of Defense stated. “There has been no violation of the airspace of foreign countries.”
Russia said that after the joint air patrol, all of the planes returned to base airfields. The patrol was not directed against any third countries and was part of the implementation of a joint China–Russia “military cooperation plan,” it said.
A Tu-95 strategic bomber of the Russian air force is refueled in the air during a joint Russia–China air patrol in a still from video footage released on July 25, 2024. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
The joint patrol came a day before Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, for talks on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting of foreign ministers in Vientiane, Laos.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that during their meeting, the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers promoted “practical cooperation” with one another at a time of “a lot of turbulence and uncertainty,” while criticizing “certain countries” for becoming increasingly proactive in setting up “restricted bloc-based military and political mechanisms” in the Asia-Pacific region, possibly referring to NATO’s strategic pivot to the Indo-Pacific region.
In a 2022 strategic foresight report, NATO said the Indo-Pacific landscape is likely to “convert into a predominant Chinese attempt to federate or potentially constrain split countries through economic, diplomatic, cultural and military levers putting at risk the rule of law, international order, democratic values, maritime freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The document called for regional organizations directly or indirectly supported or led by the United States to “stand firm to counter Chinese soft and hard power, shaping multiple scenarios of geopolitical tension(s) and even direct confrontation(s).”
The NATO report also said that “revisionist countries” such as China and Russia seek to expand their regional influence, in part by providing support to low-income countries in the region.
While China and Russia have been conducting joint military training exercises for decades, their cooperation in this regard has intensified in recent years.
Russian airplanes routinely enter Alaska’s ADIZ. Still, NORAD’s interception on July 24 was the first time that Chinese military aircraft were intercepted in the region, according to Alexander Korolev, an expert on Russian–Chinese military cooperation at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
The NORAD encounter of the Russian–Chinese joint patrol was “notable for being the first intercept of Chinese military aircraft near Alaska,” Mr. Korolev told The Financial Times.
A NORAD spokesperson contacted by The Epoch Times declined to confirm that Chinese military aircraft had never before been intercepted in Alaska’s ADIZ, and the Pentagon did not respond to a request for clarification on the matter.
Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, who was sworn in as the new head of NORAD in February, told the House Armed Services Committee in March that he believed that Chinese aircraft would soon begin operating near Alaska.
“Fortunately, we haven’t seen Chinese aircraft operate near our air defense identification zones yet, but I think that that’s coming as early as this year,” Gen. Guillot said.
“That shows an overall concern I have about the growing capability of China not only with aircraft but also with ships and even submarines being able to range further from China and closer to our shores.”
