Russian bombers buzz North American coastline
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Tu-160 bomber lands at a Russian airbase in 2008. (Photo by Wojtek Laski/Getty Images)
A pair of Russian supersonic, nuclear-capable bombers buzzed North America Saturday, forcing American and Canadian fighter jets to scramble and intercept them, the U.S. military said.
The two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack bombers “remained in international airspace,” but were escorted by two U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jets and two Canadian CF-18 jets, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command, better known as NORAD.
The U.S. jets flew from an Air Force base in Alaska.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Russian bomber flight near North America — the first known flight this year — coincides with the visit of NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Washington to meet Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan and national security adviser John Bolton.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}U.S. reconnaissance aircraft routinely fly off the coast of Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea, staying just outside the 12-nautical-mile terroritorial limit.
In 2017, U.S. nuclear-capable bombers flew over the Baltic Sea and were intercepted by Russian fighter jets.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And in 2018. a similar scenario played out as Russian bombers escorted by fighter jets flew near Alaska on Sept. 11 before the U.S. intercepted them with F-22s.
In early December, a pair of Russian Tu-160 Blackjack bombers flew to Venezuela from Russia in a sign of support for embattled President Nicholas Maduro.