Russia military planes detected off Alaskan coast after Army deploys troops to region

The U.S. military detected and tracked four Russian military planes off the coast of Alaska Monday amid a spike in such activity from Moscow off the U.S. coast.

The four Russian aircraft were operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement late Monday. 

While the ADIZ is just outside U.S. sovereign airspace, the portion of international airspace does require all aircraft to readily identify themselves in the interest of national security.

“The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” according to the statement. “This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”

Officials did not release further details as to what type of military planes they were.

The activity comes days after the U.S. military deployed about 130 troops to a remote location in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands armed with mobile rocket launchers.

Soldiers from Alaska, Washington and Hawaii with the 11th Airborne Division and the 1st and 3rd Multi Domain Task Forces were sent to Shemya Island as part of the deployment, The Associated Press reported.

The troops were placed in the area Sept. 12 as Russia and China conducted joint military drills in the air and waters west of the state, with eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels — including two submarines — traveling close to Alaska.

The Coast Guard said the Kremlin navy vessels crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, a move permitted under international rules and customs. But none of the Russian planes crossed into U.S. airspace, according to the Pentagon.

So far this year, there have been 25 instances of  Russian aircraft entering the ADIZ. Last year there were 26 such instances, indicating an uptick.

This is not the first time Washington has sent troops or equipment to Alaska to ward off Russian or Chinese forces operating nearby. In August 2023, the Navy deployed four destroyers off the state’s coast after 11 Chinese and Russian warships were spotted patrolling in the Exclusive Economic Zone, considered international waters.