A Russian fighter jet only narrowly avoided colliding with an American military aircraft during an intercept off the coast of Alaska.
The incident occurred on 23 September, during what has become the common occurrence of intercepting Russian long-range bombers probing the Alaska air defence interdiction zone (ADIZ) – an amorphous term denoting the non-sovereign airspace patrolled by a country’s military forces.
A Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter from the US Air Force had been dispatched to shadow a Russian Tupolev Tu-95 turboprop bomber, a process the joint US-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) describes as “routine”.
However, during the intercept of the Tupolev bomber, a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker fighter roared past the F-16 apparently without warning – passing within a few metres of the Viper.
“NORAD aircraft flew a safe and disciplined intercept of Russian military aircraft in the Alaskan ADIZ,” said USAF General Gregory Guillot on 23 September. “The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional and endangered all.”
“Not what you’d see in a professional air force,” added Guillot, who oversees US Northern Command, including NORAD.
Cockpit video footage of the incident released by NORAD appears to shows the F-16 trailing the Tu-95 off the bomber’s right wing, matching course and speed. The twin-engined Su-35, bearing the iconic blue-and-grey camouflage of Russia’s tactical aviation forces, suddenly blasts into frame from the F-16’s left side, cutting hard across the American craft’s nose.
The Russian Flanker manoeuvres aggressively, holding a nearly 90 degree banking turn, with its cockpit and vertical stabilisers oriented toward the F-16, before leveling off ahead of the Viper.
The American pilot can be heard uttering an indecipherable expletive, quickly pulling away and to the right when the Su-35 appears.
No injuries or equipment damage have been reported from the incident.
While this particular incident is noteworthy for the aggressive tactics on display, such intercepts have become all too common.
In 2021, the then senior military officer in Alaska – Lieutenant General David Krum – described the Russian presence around the USA’s northernmost territory as “the highest activity we’ve had since the fall of the Soviet Union”, while speaking at an Air &Space Forces Association event. Krum has since retired.
More recently, a joint sortie of Russian and Chinese bombers were intercepted off the coast of Alaska in July – thought to be the first time military aircraft from the two countries had been encountered operating together so close to US territory.
Following intercepts, US officials are typically quick to note the ADIZ begins “where sovereign airspace ends” and is officially international territory.
Other countries employ such identification zones outside of their sovereign airspace, including major players in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America. The practice is not specifically governed by an international agreement.
