NORAD Scrambles Five Aircraft After Spotting an Ilyushin IL-20 in the ADIZ

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has now scrambled its third set of F-16s in less than a week in response to Russian spy planes flying a little too close to the Alaskan coast. Though this isn’t an uncommon or threatening sighting on its own, the frequency and timing of the incidents have earned them some extra attention.

On August 20, the first Ilyushin Il-20 “Coot” 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, on August 21, another Il-20 lingered about 100 miles off Alaska’s Cape Lisburne for more than two hours. That prompted NORAD to scramble another two F-16s, this time supported by both a KC-135 and an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft.

The most recent of the three events occurred on August 24. The II-20 came around 50 miles from Point Hope, Alaska, and loitered for just over an hour before heading out. NORAD responded with two F-16s, an E-3 AWACS, and two KC-135s.

NORAD emphasized that none of the Russian flights entered US or Canadian sovereign airspace, and all interactions remained professional. Still, recent political tensions spurred a somewhat dramatic, somewhat warranted public response to the intercepts.

The string of intercepts began just days after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on August 15 for a summit with the war in Ukraine headlining the agenda. While Russian aircraft routinely test the edges of the Alaskan ADIZ, a string of three flights in five days — and the rare use of the Il-20 instead of the more common Tu-95 bombers — stands out.

An ADIZ, unlike sovereign national airspace, is not legally protected territory. It is an identification buffer stretching beyond the 12 nautical miles that mark a country’s official border. In practice, any unidentified aircraft entering is met by fighter jets on quick-reaction alert.

FMI: www.norad.mil