Russian military aircraft were spotted flying off the coast of Alaska for the fourth time in as many days, a spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command told CNN on Friday. The two most recent sightings occurred late Wednesday and on Thursday, with the first involving two IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft and the second involving two Tu-95 nuclear-capable Bear bombers. Russian aircraft never entered US airspace but US F-22s and Canadian CF-18s jets
were dispatched to perform an intercept during Thursday’s encounter, according to NORAD. “Obviously — we are aware of it,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Friday. “This is not highly unusual … but we monitor everything.” On Thursday, the bombers entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone 700 nautical miles southwest of Anchorage — significantly farther from the US coastline than two other encounters that occurred on Monday and Tuesday. READ MORE
