Taran Rampersad

Cold war style border testing.

Or they got lost and needed guidance. 👀

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/u-s-fighter-jets-intercept-russian-warplanes-off-alaskan-coast/

#Alaska #norad #russia

U.S. fighter jets intercept Russian warplanes off Alaskan coast

Two Russian Tu-95s bombers, two Su-35s fighter planes and an A-50 spy plane were detected in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, NORAD said.

Feb 20 at 11:41amMastodon for Android
Show threadEric MatthesFeb 20
@knowprose I lived in AK for 20 years, and stories like this happened every year or two.
Show threadTaran RampersadFeb 20

@ehmatthes yeah, they were pretty common during cold war era and after.

And it was usually a matter of seeing how long it took as a response.

The same happened in Germany a lot too... before the wall came down.

Show threadEric MatthesFeb 20

@knowprose I'd be curious to hear if these incidents have changed significantly over the last 18 months. US foreign relations have definitely changed over that time, and it wouldn't surprise me if these excursions are being run differently now.

But anyone reporting on that would have to include a discussion of what these flights, and our responses, have looked like over the last 20+ years.

Show threadTaran RampersadFeb 20

@ehmatthes agreed. My thought is that they finally made the news, and the question is 'why?'.

Is it the first time a response was sent in a while, or...

No idea. It's a data point.