Aircraft Detected And Tracked, NORAD Says Routine, No Threat

The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it detected and tracked a single Russian Ilyushin IL-20 Coot surveillance aircraft that flew through the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on August 20, but it did not penetrate either Canadian or U.S. airspace and posed no threat to national security.

The IL-20 is a four-engine turboprop deployed to gather electronic intelligence. According to an email release from Canadian Armed Forces Capt. Rebecca Garand, a NORAD spokeswoman, the aircraft flew through the ADIZ for a little over an hour. It approached within about 30 miles of St. Lawrence Island, a U.S. territory in the Bering Sea 140 miles from Alaska and just 46 miles from Russia.

She added, ““This Russian activity in the Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”

NORAD sortied two F-16 fighter jets and one KC-135 aerial refueler to identify and monitor the aircraft.

Prior to the Alaska ADIZ penetration, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets to intercept two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers and two fighter jets over the Sea of Japan, as reported by the Japan Joint Staff.

The Russian aircraft flew from the mainland and skirted Japanese territorial airspace off the coast of Sado Island in Niigata prefecture, lasting several hours. A spokesman for the Japan Joint Staff, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a phone interview, “We will continue to monitor Russian military movements in the airspace surrounding Japan with great interest and will take all possible measures to ensure vigilance and surveillance.”

U.S. Air Defense Identification Zones extend into international airspace, beginning where U.S. sovereign airspace ends – 12 nautical miles from the coastline. They vary somewhat in lateral size but are generally about 200 nm. They are used as a buffer area and require aircraft to be identified, located, and monitored or controlled.

FMI:  www.norad.mil/