US responded to ‘more Russian warplanes near Alaska in 2020 than any year since end of Cold War,’ N

[rangerrebew]

 US responded to ‘more Russian warplanes near Alaska in 2020 than any year since end of Cold War,’ NORAD commander says

NORAD intercepts Russian bombers in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on June 10, 2020. (NORAD/Released)
April 01, 2021 Ryan Morgan
 
Last month, U.S. Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defence (NORAD) command and Northern Command (NORTHCOM), told the Senate Armed Services Committee that in 2020, NORAD “responded to more Russian military flights off the coast of Alaska than we’ve seen in any year since the end of the Cold War.”

VanHerck described Russia’s flight patterns during a Defense Writers Group discussion on Wednesday reported by USNI News. He said Russian warplanes are loitering near Alaskan airspace “for hours” whenever they perform flyovers in the Arctic region, and he credited Russia’s activity near Alaska to a growing great power competition between the U.S. and Russia.

“We’re back in the peer competition,” he said. “Clearly, Russia is trying to reassert on a global stage their influence and their capabilities. That’s exactly what’s going on. It’s great power competition.”

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/04/us-responded-to-more-russian-warplanes-near-alaska-in-2020-than-any-year-since-end-of-cold-war-norad-commander-says/