ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Military officials have released new video of a startling encounter between a Russian fighter jet flying near Alaska and a U.S. Air Force F-16 sent to intercept it.
In the video released Monday, the Russian plane comes from behind the camera and swoops by the U.S. jet, just feet from the aircraft.
The video release of the close encounter Sept. 23, with the U.S. pilot under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, comes after a series of Russian incursions into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone just beyond U.S. sovereign airspace.
The interaction drew condemnation from NORAD’s top officer and one of Alaska’s U.S. senators.
“The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you’d see in a professional air force,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander, NORAD and U.S. Northern Command. The NORAD aircraft flew “a safe and disciplined” routine to intercept the Russian aircraft, he added.
A message sent to the Russian Embassy Monday seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The close pass of the Russian jet comes just weeks after eight Russian military planes and four of its navy vessels, including two submarines, came close to Alaska as China and Russia conducted joint drills.
None of the planes breached U.S. airspace. However, about 130 U.S. soldiers were sent along with mobile rocket launchers to Shemya Island, about 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. They were deployed to the Aleutian island for a week before returning to their bases.
In July, Russian and Chinese bombers flew together for the first time in international airspace off Alaska, a sign of cooperation that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said raised concerns.
In 2022, a U.S. Coast Guard ship about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of Alaska’s Kiska Island in the Bering Sea came across three Chinese and four Russian naval vessels sailing in single formation.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said the close pass of the Russian jet is another reason to build America’s military presence in Alaska and the Arctic.
“The reckless and unprofessional maneuvers of Russian fighter pilots — within just a few feet of our Alaska-based fighters — in Alaska’s ADIZ on September 23 put the lives of our brave Airmen at risk and underscore the escalating aggression we’re witnessing from dictators like Vladimir Putin,” Sullivan said in a statement.