Two Russian spy planes were spotted near Alaska

The U.S. military reported that Russian military spy planes had entered the Alaska air defense identification zone twice in the past two days. U.S. F-22 fighters intercepted the second plane as it entered airspace. Both cases involved the same type of Russian reconnaissance aircraft.

The Air Defense Identification Zone extends beyond the country’s airspace and includes the space in which the country attempts to identify, locate and control aircraft for national security purposes.

The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter U.S. and Canadian sovereign airspace, the North American Air and Space Defense Command (NORAD) said Wednesday on social media.

“We remain prepared to use a range of response options to protect North American and Arctic sovereignty,” the post noted.

This is the first publicized instance of a Russian military aircraft approaching Alaskan airspace in 2022, though such incidents have become common in recent years.