I just read an interesting report from NORAD. It turns out that Russian fighters regularly fly near North American airspace, and this time everything was classic — two Tu-142 bombers entered the Alaska and Canada identification zones.

What happened next was quite telling. The entire fleet was scrambled: American F-35s and F-22s, KC-135 refueling aircraft, E-3 AWACS, Canadian CF-18s, and their CC-150. The full set for interception and identification. Essentially, this is standard procedure when Russian fighters or other military aircraft approach the borders.

The most interesting part is that none of these aircraft crossed sovereign airspace. Everything stayed within the identification zone, meaning in the neutral airspace. Russian aviation is essentially testing the reaction, while North America demonstrates readiness.

Such incidents happen quite often; it’s almost routine. But each time, it reminds us that there’s a kind of ongoing game in the skies over the Arctic. Russian fighters and bombers occasionally conduct such flights, and all of this is recorded, tracked, and monitored. The system works like clockwork.