Déjà Vu

On Sunday, 14 May 2023, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) disclosed in a written statement that U.S. fighter jets had intercepted six Russian aircraft operating within the boundaries of the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ)—an area of airspace beyond U.S. sovereign territory within which the ready identification, location, and control of all aircraft, excepting those operated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and acknowledged law-enforcement agencies, is required in the interest of U.S. national security.

The intercepted Russian aircraft included TU-95 “Bear” bombers, functionally obsolete 1950s-vintage, quad-turboprops; IL-78 aerial tankers; and Su-35 “Flanker” fighter jets—formidable, single-seat, twin-engine, supermaneuverable aircraft designed and built by Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau.

NORAD described the incident as "routine" and set forth such intercepts occur as often as seven times per-year in the Alaska ADIZ.

"This Russian activity in the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat," NORAD aid in the statement. "NORAD tracks and positively identifies all military aircraft that enter the ADIZ, routinely monitors aircraft movements and as necessary escorts them from the ADIZ."

According to the NORAD statement, the U.S. aircraft by which the Russian warplanes were intercepted included USAF F-16 and F-22 fighters, KC-135 Stratotankers, and E-3 AWACS.

Russia, as a matter of convention, holds military exercises over the Chukchi and Bering seas. Whether the presence of the intercepted aircraft within the Alaska ADIZ was attributable to such drills is unknown.

In February 2023, NORAD reported a similar incident in which United States Air Force F-16 fighter jets intercepted a pair of Tu-95s and an Su-35 that penetrated and operated briefly within the Alaskan ADIZ.

Then, as now, NORAD contended the interloping aircraft represented no threat to American citizens, interests, or national security.

"NORAD tracks and positively identifies foreign military aircraft that enter the ADIZ," and "routinely monitors foreign aircraft movements and as necessary, escorts them from the ADIZ," the command asserted in a subsequent statement.

“This Russian activity in the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative,” NORAD’s statement continued. “NORAD had anticipated this Russian activity and, as a result of our planning, was prepared to intercept it.”

To the subject of tracking foreign aircraft, NORAD has repeatedly stated it employs "a layered defense network" of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars, and fighter jets. According to the organization’s website, NORAD’s Alaskan region is capable of detecting "what goes on in and near North American airspace 24 hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week."

That 2023 has seen U.S. sovereign airspace repeatedly violated by foreign aircraft and objects originating in the northern latitudes—to include a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the majority of the North American continent between 28 January and 04 February 2023—belies NORAD’s claims of boundless and perpetual vigilance and calls into question the priorities of America’s federal and military leaders.

FMI: www.norad.mil