Russian bomber jets came within 50 miles of California coast

Russian bomber jets came within 50 miles of California coast
(Image credit: U.S. Navy/Getty Images)

A spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed that two long-range Russian bombers came within 50 miles of the Northern California coastline Monday, but didn't creep into United States airspace.

The American military deployed a pair of F-22 Raptor jets after noticing the Russian aircraft had entered the outer Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near Alaska, a 200-miles large plot that is international airspace.

The nuclear-capable planes, as Russia Today calls them, then split into two groups: two headed west toward Russia and the other two sped south toward California. Those two planes "were picked up visually" by the American pilots.

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The Americans didn't communicate with the Russian planes. A U.S. Navy official told the Washington Free Beacon that the incident appeared to be part of a training exercise and said the Russians "acted professionally."

This is the first time in two years that Russian bombers came this close to clipping the California coast.

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.