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On Wednesday, U.S. and Canadian fighter jets were swiftly dispatched by NORAD in response to the presence of two Russian military planes within the Alaskan and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ).
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) reported that it successfully detected and tracked two Russian TU-142 military aircraft operating within these zones on March 4, 2026.
To manage the situation, NORAD deployed a fleet including two F-35 fighter jets and two F-22 fighter jets from the U.S. Air Force, along with four KC-135 tankers, an E-3 AWACS aircraft, two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets, and a CC-150 tanker. The mission was to identify, monitor, and intercept the Russian aircraft within the American and Canadian ADIZ.
F-35 jets soar near the Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Base in Alaska on August 15, 2025. (Photo by Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
NORAD confirmed that the Russian planes stayed within international airspace, never breaching U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace. The command noted that such maneuvers in the Alaskan and Canadian ADIZ are routine and do not pose a direct threat.
An F-22 Raptor flies in this undated image provided by Lockheed Martin. (Lockheed Martin via Getty Images)
The incident follows a similar encounter last month, when NORAD intercepted five Russian military aircraft — including two Tu-95 bombers, two Su-35 fighter jets and an A-50 airborne early warning aircraft — operating near the Bering Strait off Alaska’s western coast. In that case, NORAD launched F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, supported by an E-3 aircraft and refueling tankers, to identify and escort the Russian planes until they departed the area.
The Arctic Thunder Air Show is performed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) military facility as it welcomes more than 300,000 visitors, organized as a public event and featured 7 different international partners in various capacities in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 22, 2024. (Hasan Akbas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
NORAD said the aircraft in that encounter also remained in international airspace, did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign territory and were not viewed as provocative.
Air Defense Identification Zones begin where sovereign airspace ends and extend into international airspace. Aircraft entering an ADIZ are expected to identify themselves in the interest of national security, according to NORAD.
NORAD, headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars, and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and determine appropriate responses.
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