Russian planes detected off Alaska 4 times this week

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military says Russian military aircraft have approached the coast of Alaska four times this week, and U.S. fighter jets intercepted them twice.

The military says the latest incident happened late Thursday, and that F-22 Raptor aircraft and Canadian CF-18 Hornet fighters safely intercepted two Russian TU-95 Bear bombers.

Lori O'Donley is spokeswoman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. She says the incidents all happened in international airspace.

Russia periodically flies into the U.S. air defense identification zone that extends 200 miles off the coast. O'Donley says the last such string of incidents was in 2014.

The incidents come amid heightened U.S.-Russian tensions over the civil war in Syria.

North American Aerospace Defense Command is a U.S.-Canada organization that monitors approaches to North America and defends the airspace.

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