Russian Military Aircraft Tracked Operating Near Alaskan Airspace

Incident represents second instance in less than a month.

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 02:00 PM ET

Verified

Russian military aircraft were detected and tracked near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed Tuesday. [Courtesy: NORAD]

Key Takeaways:

Russian military aircraft were detected and tracked near Alaska on February 18, marking the second such incident in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in less than a month.
NORAD confirmed the aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, stating that this activity occurs regularly and is not considered a threat.
NORAD maintains a layered defense network and remains ready to respond, having previously scrambled air patrols in the Arctic in response to Russian military aircraft.

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Russian military aircraft were detected and tracked near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed Tuesday.

NORAD said the February 18 incident—the second in the region in less than a month—occurred in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which begins where sovereign airspace ends and is monitored by both the U.S. and Canada. NORAD officials did not identify the aircraft.