Two Russian Bombers Fly Near Alaska, and U.S. Scrambles Jets By ERIC SCHMITTAPRIL 18, 2017 WASHINGTON — Two Russian long-range bombers flew about 100 miles off the Alaskan coast on Monday night, the first time since President Trump took office that Moscow has sent warplanes so close to the United States, the military said Tuesday. The last time Russian bombers flew near the United States was July 4, 2015, when a pair of Russian bombers flew off the coasts of Alaska and California, coming as close as 40 miles to Mendocino, Calif. The bombers’ flight into that space prompted the Air Force to scramble two F-22 stealth fighter jets and an E-3 airborne early-warning plane to intercept the Russian planes, according to First Lt. Lauren Hill, a spokeswoman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad, in Colorado. Since 2007, the United States has intercepted Russian warplanes that flew into the air defense zone about 60 times, all without incident, Lieutenant Hill said. Last week in Moscow, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said relations with Russia were at a "low point." Get politics and Washington news updates via Facebook, Twitter and in the Morning Briefing newsletter. After the American jets flew alongside the Russian bombers for several minutes, the Russian planes broke off and headed back to their base in eastern Russia, Lieutenant Hill said.
