The North American Aerospace Defence Command confirmed that it detected and tracked a Russian military aircraft operating near Alaska on Monday.
Officials confirmed that the Russian craft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace.
However, the warplane was in flight as several ‘planned, large-scale military training exercises’ were ongoing in and around the area by the US military.
They added: ‘Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.’
‘And ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification, location and control of all aircraft in the interest of national security.
‘NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground based-and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to track and identify aircraft and inform appropriate actions.
‘It remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America.’
It is the second time in four days that NORAD tracked a Russian craft after intercepting six operating in the same zone on May 11.
Again the warplanes did not enter US or Canadian airspace, but the incident did take place during planned US military exercises.
The Russian aircrafts during that incident were TU-85 bombers, IL-78 tankers and SU-35 fighter aircrafts.
In a statement addressing the prior incident, NORAD claims that the number of aircraft that they intercepted ranged from zero to 15, since 2007.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said that they ‘responded appropriately’ to the incident on May 11.
He added: ‘It’s not the first Russian flight. It probably won’t be the last.’
National security remains one of the top priorities for the U.S. government, especially following the discovery of over U.S. territory earlier this year.
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