We now know why three F-22 stealth fighter jets scrambled over Hawaii last Sunday.
U.S. military officials told Honolulu Civil Beat on Tuesday that three jets dispatched from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in response to Russian bombers moving close to, but not entering, American air space.
"U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is monitoring the Russian vessels operating in international waters in the Western Pacific," Capt. Mike Kafka told the outlet in an email. "As part of our normal daily operations, we closely track all vessels in the Indo-Pacific area of operations through maritime patrol aircraft, surface ships and joint capabilities."
Prior to President Joe Biden meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva on Wednesday, Russian officials called the country’s military exercises 400 miles off the coast of Hawaii its largest since the end of the Cold War.
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American officials initially were not so forthcoming about the reasoning behind Sunday’s alert scramble.
The U.S. military told Hawaii News Now on Monday that Pacific Air Forces responded to an FAA request on Sunday afternoon, dispatching three F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam between 4 and 5 p.m. A refueling plane also took off from the base, and officials told the outlet it was not a training exercise.
In an email Monday, Pacific Air Forces told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the FAA asked U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to "conduct an irregular air patrol and the situation resolved, prompting the fighters and a KC-135 Stratotanker (a refueling plane) to return to base."
"We cannot discuss further specifics of the situation," the statement read.
The FAA simply told SFGate on Tuesday morning: "We have a close working relationship with the military."
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