New footage of an astonishing confrontation between a Russian fighter jet flying close to Alaska and a US Air Force F-16 dispatched to intercept it has been made public by military authorities.
The Russian plane appears on the video, which was made public on Monday, and swoops by the US fighter a few feet away from it as it passes behind the camera.
The video release of the close encounter Sept. 23, with the US pilot under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, comes after a series of Russian incursions into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone just beyond US sovereign airspace.
The interaction drew condemnation from NORAD’s top officer and one of Alaska’s US senators.
A message sent to the Russian Embassy Monday seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The close pass of the Russian jet comes just weeks after eight Russian military planes and four of its navy vessels, including two submarines, came close to Alaska as China and Russia conducted joint drills.
None of the planes breached US airspace. However, about 130 US soldiers were sent along with mobile rocket launchers to Shemya Island, about 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. They were deployed to the Aleutian Island for a week before returning to their bases.
In July, Russian and Chinese bombers flew together for the first time in international airspace off Alaska, a sign of cooperation that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said raised concerns.
In 2022, a US Coast Guard ship about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of Alaska’s Kiska Island in the Bering Sea came across three Chinese and four Russian naval vessels sailing in single formation.
US Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, said the close pass of the Russian jet is another reason to build America’s military presence in Alaska and the Arctic.
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