In a new video shared by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), Russian aircraft can be seen flying scarily close to a U.S. F-16 plane.
“On Sept 23, 2024, NORAD aircraft flew a safe and disciplined intercept of Russian Military Aircraft in the Alaska ADIZ,” said a Monday statement from the North American Defense Command (NORAD) Commander Gen. Gregory Guillot posted on X. “The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you’d see in a professional air force.”
NORAD is a bi-national organization between the U.S. and Canada that takes on missions related to aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for North America. According to USA Today, the footage shared by NORAD was captured by a U.S. Air Force F-16 on Sept. 23.
That day, NORAD issued a press release about the incident. It said that it detected and tracked four Russian military aircraft operating in the ADIZ.
Russian activity in the ADIZ is common and not considered a threat, said NORAD. Despite the risky maneuver near U.S. aircraft, the Russian planes remained in international airspace, never entering American or Canadian sovereign airspace.
“ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security,” NORAD explained.
To track aircraft and potentially inappropriate operations, NORAD uses a defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to track. If needed, it can also deploy response options for the defense of North America.
This isn’t the first time NORAD has issued a press release about Russian aircraft in the ADIZ. In 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, NORAD tracked and identified Russian aircraft in the space, and then again in February 2023. This July, NORAD intercepted Russian and Chinese military planes operating in the international airspace.
As the sightings continue, so does Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the ongoing war and the possibility of allowing Ukraine to use Western missiles in Russia.
Russian Federation President responded to this news with an apparently ominous warning about Russia potentially deploying its nuclear weapons if other nuclear powers such as the U.S. get more involved. Already, the U.S. has supplied Ukraine with billions in military support to fight off the Russian attack.
“To enhance Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities, I have decided to provide Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munition,” said U.S. President Joe Biden in a statement released last Thursday by the White House, when Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy was in town.
However, CNN noted this week that Zelenskyy left the U.S. with out key requests met. There were no North Atlantic Treaty Organization-style security guarantees or permission to use Western missiles. Then, Russia captured the key Ukrainian town of Vuhledar this week after eight months of resistance. This comes as a blow after Ukraine successfully expanded into Russia’s Kursk region this summer.