U.S. and NATO Scramble Jets as Russia Tests Boundaries

NORAD deploys an E-3, four F-16s, and four KC-135 tankers.

Zach Vasile

Friday, September 26, 2025 at 07:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon departs from the 86th Air Base, Romania, on September 23, 2023, in support of NATOs enhanced air policing capabilities. [Courtesy: Department of Defense]

Key Takeaways:

U.S. fighter jets tracked Russian military aircraft in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), an international airspace, which NORAD considers a regular and non-threatening occurrence.
This incident aligns with a broader pattern of increased Russian military air incursions and harassment of Western air forces, including recent events involving German, Swedish, and Estonian airspace.
Notably, Russian drones were shot down over Poland by Polish and NATO forces, marking the first direct engagement with Russian military assets since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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U.S. fighter jets scrambled to identify and track Russian military aircraft that entered closely-monitored airspace around Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Thursday.

The Russian aircraft, two Tu-95s and two Su-35s, flew into a stretch of international airspace known as the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which “requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security,” according to NORAD. The joint U.S.-Canada command responded by sending an E-3, four F-16s, and four KC-135 tankers to identify the Russian airplanes and intercept them if needed.