The irresponsible maneuver of a Russian Su-35 fighter against a US F-16 near Alaska

Russian provocations against NATO aircraft continue in various places, sometimes leading to very dangerous situations.

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This is the case of what happened on September 23 near the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), facts revealed yesterday by NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), which that day detected and tracked four Russian military aircraft in that area. NORAD has noted the following about this flight:

"The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.

An ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security."

The planes in question were two Tupolev Tu-95 bombers and two Sukhoi Su-35 fighters of the Russian Air Force. They were flying over international waters and two F-16Cs from the 354th Fighter Wing, based at Eielson AFB, Alaska, took off to intercept and identify them. Let us remember that Russian planes have a habit of flying with their transponders off, violating international aviation regulations, which forces the air forces of NATO countries to send fighters to identify whether such flights are a threat. General Gregory Guillot reported yesterday what happened during this interception:

"On Sept 23, 2024, NORAD aircraft flew a safe and disciplined intercept of Russian Military Aircraft in the Alaska ADIZ. The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you’d see in a professional air force."

NORAD has released this video of the incident, which shows the Su-35 passing very close to the F-16C, risking a mid-air collision:

“On Sept 23, 2024, NORAD aircraft flew a safe and disciplined intercept of Russian Military Aircraft in the Alaska ADIZ. The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you’d see in a professional air force.” – Gen. Gregory Guillot pic.twitter.com/gXZj3Ndkag

— North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) September 30, 2024

Such Russian provocations are very common in the Baltic Sea, in the area patrolled by NATO aircraft on BAP (Baltic Air Police) mission, near the coasts of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These manoeuvres demonstrate the low professionalism of Russian pilots and their complete disregard for air safety regulations. NORAD has published these images of the incident:

In the images we see that the F-16C was armed with short-range AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and medium-range AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, so this American plane or its companion could have shot down the Russian fighters if they had perceived that they were a threat. Let us hope that these Russian provocations do not end up leading to any misfortune one of these days.