Four Russian military planes were detected and tracked off the coast of Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Monday, just days after the U.S. Army deployed more than 100 soldiers to the region.
The Russian aircraft were operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, which is beyond U.S. sovereign air space, but an area in which aircraft are expected to identify themselves, NORAD said in a news release . Officials did not release any details about the planes but said they stayed in international airspace.
The activity was “not seen as a threat,” NORAD said. The aircraft were spotted just days after about 130 U.S. soldiers were temporarily deployed to a remote Alaska island with mobile rocket launchers amid a spike in Russian military activity off the western reaches of the U.S.
The deployment to Shemya Island involved soldiers from Alaska, Washington and Hawaii with the 11th Airborne Division and the 1st and 3rd Multi Domain Task Forces, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Sword, a spokesperson for the 11th Airborne, said in an email to The Associated Press.