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The bombers, two Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" aircraft, were the first of its kind in a little over a year to approach close to U.S. territory, nearing over Alaska's west coast, about 55 miles from the shore. To be clear, they remained over international airspace, so no harm, no foul.
However, the zone they entered is a U.S. air-defense identification zone (ADIZ), which is defined as airspace extending about 200 miles from the nation's coastline.
We greeted the bombers with two F-22s and stayed with them until they left the ADIZ along the Aleutian Islands, heading west. They did at no time enter North American sovereign airspace.
The Russian "Bears" date back to the 1950s. [I've encountered them flying over the USS Independence CVA-62 heading toward the Mediterranean during the Vietnam War. We greeted them with F-4 Phantoms and the Bear went on its merry way.] These giant birds were met with our F-22s around 10:00 a.m. EDT.
The Tupolev Tu-95 is a huge, four-engine turboprop, and a strategic bomber and missile platform. It was first flown in 1952, entered Soviet service in 1956 and is expected to remain in service until 2040.
It is the only propeller-powered strategic bomber still in operation, and is one of the loudest monsters in the sky due to the fact that the propeller tips rotate faster than the speed of sound.
Earlier this month, a Russian fighter jet buzzed a U.S.N. reconnaissance plane in the Baltic Sea. The Sukhoi Su-27 jet reportedly came within 20 feet of the American P-8 in international space. We called their maneuver "unprofessional," but luckily the Su-27 pilot was professional enough not to cause an air traffic accident.
Today is the 60th anniversary of NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command that monitors all air activity coming from within and outside North American airspace.
Happy anniversary!
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