At 10:30am EST and 11:00PM EST, two pairs of Russian Tupolev Tu-95 long range bombers approached U.S. airspace off the coasts of Alaska and California respectively.
While they never officially entered North American sovereign airspace, they were close enough to send fighter jets scrambling to intercept them.
“These are not unprecedented flights, but we are postured to respond whether Alaska or California.”said NORAD spokesman Michael Kucharek.
At the same time as fighter jets scrambled, Russian President Vladimir Putin was on the phone to President Obama wishing him a happy 4th of July.
This is not the first time an incident like this occurred on Independence Day, it happened once back in 2013.
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While the United States celebrated Independence Day, two pairs of Russian bombers flew off the coast of California and Alaska — forcing the Air Force to scramble fighter jets to intercept both flights, two senior defense officials tell Fox News.
The first incident occurred at 10:30 a.m. ET on July 4 off the coast of Alaska, Fox News is told. Two U.S. Air Force F-22 jets were scrambled from their base in Alaska to intercept two Tupolev Tu-95 long-range strategic bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The second incident occurred at 11:00 a.m. ET also on July 4, off the central coast of California. Two F-15s from an undisclosed location were scrambled to intercept another pair of Tu-95 Bear bombers.
