Russian nuclear bombers flew a mission over the Bering Sea
Both Russia's Defense Ministry and NORAD described the flight off Alaska and its interception as routine.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday released video of what it described as a routine sortie of its Tu-95MC nuclear-capable strategic bombers.
The aircraft, escorted by Sukhoi Su-30 jet fighters, performed a seven-hour flight over the Bering Sea, which separates Russia and the United States.
In a tweeted statement, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said it intercepted and escorted the aircraft from the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, in an operation it described as “routine.”
NORAD conducts routine intercept of Russian aircraft entering Air Defense Identification Zone. pic.twitter.com/rJdML4Co1x
— North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) February 14, 2023
Russia’s strategic aviation carries out regular flights over neutral waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic, Baltic and Black seas and the Pacific, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement.
The Tu-95MC — or “Bear,” according to NATO reporting name — first entered service during the Cold War in the mid-1950s and has been modernized several times since.
It can carry up to 16 cruise missiles with nuclear and conventional warheads.
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