Russian and Chinese Nuclear Bombers Approach U.S. Airspace

American and Canadian fighter aircraft intercepted two Russian and two Chinese nuclear-capable bombers off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said, the first time China's strategic air asset has been detected near U.S. territory in the area.

The Russian Tu-95 and Chinese H-6 military aircraft were detected in Alaska's air defense identification zone, according to NORAD . They "remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace."

"This Russian and PRC activity in the Alaska ADIZ is not seen as a threat," said the North American binational command, referring to the People's Republic of China .

An ADIZ extends beyond traditional territorial airspace and is used for the " ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security," NORAD said. The concept, which is not governed under any international law, is widely used in Asia, including by China.

Footage released by Russia 's Defense Ministry on Thursday showed Russian and Chinese air force bombers and their Su-30 and Su-35 fighter escorts operating in the north Pacific on the day.

NORAD aircraft including U.S. F-16 and F-35 and Canadian CF-18 fighter aircraft were seen monitoring the visiting formation from a distance.

The five-hour joint air patrol, coming in the same month both navies sailed together in the Western Pacific, was carried out over the Chukchi and Bering seas, according to the statement.

"At certain stages of the route, the air group was accompanied by fighter aircraft from foreign countries," the ministry said. The planned event "was not directed against third countries," it said.

Later on Thursday, China's Defense Ministry also confirmed what it said was the neighbors' eighth " air strategic patrol " since 2019, aimed at increasing coordination between the two air forces and deepening mutual trust between the two nations.

"This operation is not directed at any third party, complies with relevant international laws and practices, and is unrelated to the current international and regional situation ."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Coast Guard detected four Chinese navy ships near Alaska's Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea. It followed previous similar encounters in the area in 2021 and 2022.

Russian aircraft frequently operate in or near the Alaska ADIZ. However, the Chinese bomber sorties were a first, along with the first time Russian and Chinese warplanes had encroached on the Alaska air defense zone at the same time, a U.S. defense official told the specialist Air and Space Forces Magazine .

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing in March, U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, head of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, predicted Chinese aircraft would begin operating near Alaska this year.

Guillot and Air Force Lt. Gen. David Nahom, head of the Alaskan Command, briefed Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) about the intercept late on Wednesday, the lawmaker said in an X post.

Murkowski called it an "unprecedented provocation by our adversaries."

In a separate statement, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said was Alaska was on the front line of "the authoritarian aggression by the dictators in Russia and China who are increasingly working together."

"Make no mistake, this is an escalation—the first time Russia and China have sent a joint bomber task-force into the Alaska ADIZ," Sullivan said. "The Arctic is a critical area of strategic competition between the U.S., Russia and China. As I have been warning our Pentagon leaders for years, these kinds of joint Russia and China incursions on the sea and in the air near Alaska will continue."

The Russian and Chinese governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment before publication.

U.S. Defense Department did not immediately reply to an email out of hours.

Russia has long been active in the Northern Pacific, but China has emerged as a new stakeholder in the region, with ambitions to challenge the United States and its allies as far the Arctic.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon released the first update to its Arctic strategy in five years. It said: "Though not an Arctic nation, the PRC is attempting to leverage changing dynamics in the Arctic to pursue greater influence and access, take advantage of Arctic resources, and play a larger role in regional governance."

Craig Singleton, a researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank, said the joint exercises were "purposefully provocative."

"The implication is that if Washington intends to continue operating mere miles off China and Russia's coasts, then Beijing and Moscow are prepared to do the same in America's backyard ," Singleton told Newsweek .

"China's ambition to become a 'polar great power' is clearly articulated through its portrayal of the Arctic as a ' new strategic frontier .' By labeling the region as 'up for grabs,' China seeks to undermine the existing claims of the eight Arctic powers, including the U.S., and cast doubt on their established regional dominance," he said.

"Essential to this strategy is China's collaboration with Russia, and leveraging their combined influence to reshape Arctic geopolitics," Singleton said.

At a monthly press briefing on Thursday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Zhang Xiaogang lashed out at NATO for extending "its ominous reach into the Asia-Pacific region, with China as its imagined antagonist ."

"It has induced a number of regional countries to follow its lead, provoked bloc confrontation and created division," Zhang said. " NATO is, indeed, a 'sower of wars and chaos.'"

Also this week, a pair of Chinese warships operating in the Indian Ocean sailed through the Baltic Sea to reach Russia's strategic northern port city of St. Petersburg.

The Chinese navy destroyer Jiaozuo and fleet oiler Honghu will take part in Russia's Navy Day celebrations this Sunday, Zhang said, while the amphibious warfare ship Longhushan and the training ship Zheng He would visit Vladivostok in the Sea of Japan to mark the same occasion.

Update 7/25/2024, 10 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.