NORAD Forced to Scramble F-16s Two Days in a Row

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has now been forced to scramble fighters two days in a row due to Russian spy planes operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). The incidents come just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine.

On August 20, the first Il-20 electronic surveillance aircraft flew within 25 nautical miles of St. Lawrence Island and remained in the ADIZ for just over an hour. NORAD sent two F-16s and a KC-135 refueling tanker to “positively identify and monitor” the aircraft.

The following day, another Il-20 stayed in the zone for more than two hours, this time about 100 miles off Alaska’s northernmost point: Cape Lisburne. That prompted NORAD to scramble another two F-16s, this time supported by both a KC-135 and an E-3 Sentry command-and-control aircraft.

NORAD was clear that both Russian aircraft stayed in international airspace and never crossed into U.S. or Canadian sovereign territory… but that doesn’t mean the military is shrugging it off. Officials emphasized that any flight into the ADIZ, which is a clearly marked air buffer zone meant to identify and track aircraft approaching the US, warrants a rapid response.

The Il-20, carrying sensors for electronic intelligence gathering, is not the usual Alaskan visitor from Russia’s fleet. Tu-95 Bear bombers have been intercepted regularly since the Cold War. The II-20, on the other hand, has seen use in Syria and over the Baltics, where European forces have also intercepted it. Syrian forces even managed to shoot one down by mistake during an Israeli air raid in 2018.

Given Alaska’s proximity to Russia, it is not necessarily uncommon for foreign aircraft to end up in the ADIZ. US forces do the same, entering declared ADIZ zones in the South China Sea, but claim those flights are legal under international norms.

Despite this, the timing of the intercepts raised eyebrows. The incidents came less than a week after President Trump hosted Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska… a meeting that produced no military agreements but plenty of tension.

FMI: www.norad.mil