NORAD Observes Uptick in Russian Military Flights Near Alaska

In recent developments, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been actively monitoring a significant increase in Russian military activity within the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Reports from the U.S. military highlighted two key instances of these detections, occurring first on Friday and again throughout the weekend.

Initial reports from Friday detailed the tracking of two Russian TU-142 aircraft primarily engaged in maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine tasks. The surveillance continued over the weekend, detecting two Russian IL-38 aircraft on Saturday and Sunday. NORAD has confirmed that while these aircraft were within the ADIZ, a security buffer that extends 150 miles from the U.S. coastline and requires aircraft identification, they did not enter sovereign U.S. or Canadian airspace.

These observations are part of routine monitoring by NORAD to safeguard the airspace over North America. Although such Russian military flights are regular and not considered directly threatening, they are closely watched to maintain national security.

The timing of these flights coincides with Russia’s extensive Ocean 2024 naval exercises in the Pacific and Arctic oceans, which saw participation from over 400 vessels and 120 aircraft—this period also noted heightened military coordination between the naval forces of China and Russia, with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) taking part in joint maneuvers with the Russian fleet.

NORAD has reassured that these foreign military activities, though elevated, did not pose an immediate threat to security.