U.S. stealth fighters intercept Russian bombers 200 miles off the Alaskan coast

Two U.S. Air Force stealth fighter jets intercepted a pair of Russian bombers about 200 miles off the coast of Alaska Friday morning, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) reports.

"At approximately 10 a.m. ET, two Alaskan-based NORAD F-22 fighters intercepted and visually identified two Russian TU-95 'Bear' long-range bomber aircraft flying in the Air Defense Identification Zone [ADIZ] around the western coast of Alaska, north of the Aleutian Islands," said a NORAD statement. The bombers were "intercepted and monitored by the F-22s until the bombers left the ADIZ along the Aleutian Island chain heading west."

The Russian planes never entered U.S. air space, though Fox News reports two separate, unnamed Defense Department officials said they came within 55 miles of the American coast after interception. The last time Russian military planes flew this close to the United States was May 3, 2017.

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