Chinese and Russian nuclear-capable bombers intercepted by jet fighters near Alaska were engaged in an unprecedented joint strategic patrol near the U.S. coast, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday. But the Pentagon chief said U.S. and allied forces were prepared for the challenge.
“This was not a surprise to us,” Mr. Austin told reporters at the Pentagon. “We closely monitored these aircraft, tracked the aircraft, intercepted the aircraft, which demonstrates that our forces are at the ready all the time.”
Four bombers — two Russian Tu-95s and two Chinese H-6s — flew within 200 miles of the Alaska coast but did not enter sovereign U.S. airspace, prompting U.S. F-16 and F-35 jets and Canadian CF-18 jets to intercept the aircraft. U.S. support and refueling aircraft also took part in the operation, a defense official said.
“This is the first time we’ve seen these two countries fly together like that,” Mr. Austin said.
Mr. Austin said the strategic aircraft flights did not appear linked to recent political upheavals in Washington, including the withdrawal of President Biden from the presidential reelection campaign shortly after the assassination attempt on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“They’re always testing us,” Mr. Austin said. “That’s no surprise to any of us. We see activity in the north on a number of occasions and we are always at the ready to address that activity.”
The U.S. and Canadian response also sent a message, he added, “and that message is we’re going to be at the ready; we are at the ready; we will always be at the ready. We’re going to defend this nation.”
The incident also comes as China and Russia have increased strategic and diplomatic ties in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with both countries saying they are determined to challenge a U.S.-dominated, “unipolar” world. In Beijing, the Chinese Defense Ministry described the flights as a “joint strategic aerial patrol in the relevant airspace of the Bering Sea” and a part of an annual joint military cooperation plan.
Zhang Xiaogang, a ministry spokesman, said at a press conference that the bomber patrol was the eighth time since 2019 that Chinese and Russian strategic bombers flew together. The flight was aimed at “further testing and enhancing the level of cooperation between the two air forces, as well as deepening strategic mutual trust and practical cooperation between the two countries,” he said.
“This action is not aimed at third parties, it is in line with relevant international laws and international practices and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation,” Mr. Zhang said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the bombers never violated foreign airspace and that the exercise was not directed against any “third countries.”
Mr. Austin said if the bombers again trigger an aerial intercept by entering the air defense zone, “I have every confidence that Northcom and NORAD will be at the ready and will be able to intercept.”
The air defense zone is an area beginning at the edge of a country’s sovereign airspace where the military requires identification of all aircraft entering the zone to determine if they pose a threat.
Northcom is the Colorado-based Northern Command that protects U.S. airspace and responds to all aircraft that enter the country’s “air defense identification zone,” a region outside U.S. airspace. NORAD is the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint U.S.-Canadian air and missile defense system.
Mr. Austin said the joint Chinese and Russian bomber patrol is the latest indication of increased military cooperation between the two nations.
“This is a relationship that we have been concerned about, mostly because we’re concerned about China providing support to Russia’s illegal and unnecessary war in Ukraine,” Mr. Austin said.
In August 2023, a flotilla of 11 Russian and Chinese warships conducted operations in waters near Alaska as part of a naval exercise.
Earlier flights of strategic Chinese and Russian bombers were carried out in international airspace near Japan, in the western Pacific and east of Taiwan and the Philippines.
Photos released by NORAD officials showed U.S. and Canadian jets approaching the back of a Tu-95 and an H-6.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, Alaska Republican, agreed with Mr. Austin that Wednesday’s provocative joint bomber flight highlighted growing military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow and took that cooperation a step further: “Make no mistake, this is an escalation — the first time Russia and China have sent a joint bomber task force into the Alaska ADIZ. Fortunately, our brave military members working closely with our Canadian allies were ready, conducting joint operations to intercept these bombers.”
“As I have been warning our Pentagon leaders for years, these kinds of joint Russia and China incursions on the sea and in the air near Alaska will continue,” he added.
Russian bombers frequently fly into the U.S. and Canadian air defense zones in what military analysts say are attempts to test air defenses. However, the presence of two Chinese bombers in the air defense zone is unusual and has not been reported before.
NORAD said in its statement that the bomber activity “is not seen as a threat,” although it offered no explanation why.
The aerial intercept Wednesday coincided with the Navy hosting of the large-scale Rim of the Pacific international naval exercises now underway near Hawaii that involve military forces from 29 U.S. allies.
The intercept of the Russian and Chinese bombers also followed the Pentagon’s release this week of a major strategy report on the Arctic. The report stated U.S. military forces will continue to protect American sovereignty in the region from perceived threats, including Russian bomber flights in the region.
The report also said Russian and Chinese military forces are stepping up collaboration in the Arctic.
China’s H-6 is a strategic bomber based on the Soviet Tu-16 twin-engine aircraft that has undergone frequent modifications in recent years as part of China’s large-scale nuclear forces buildup. The Russian Tu-95 “Bear” bomber is a strategic bomber capable of firing nuclear or conventional missiles.
Retired Navy Capt. James E. Fanell, former intelligence chief for the Pacific Fleet, said the joint bomber patrol highlighted the capabilities of the air-launched leg of both nations’ nuclear triad.
“While NORAD said the bombers ‘did not represent a threat’ to the United States, the fact is, depending on the variant of bomber used by both nations, this unprecedented joint patrol represents a clear and unambiguous threat to the U.S. Pacific Fleet,” Capt. Fanell said. “Combined with recent joint PLA and Russian navy patrols in the Gulf of Alaska, it seems clear that [Chinese President] Xi Jinping and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin are working to ‘spread’ America’s thin military force structure in Asia from the Gulf of Alaska to the South China Sea,” he said.
“The threat is clear: We are facing a situation that is as dire as any during the Cold War against the Soviet Union,” Capt. Fanell added.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
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