Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 20, 2026
1 min readLast updated: April 3, 2026
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On Feb. 19, 2026, NORAD tracked Russian Tu-95s, Su-35s and an A-50 in the Alaskan ADIZ. U.S. F-35s, F-16s and support aircraft intercepted and escorted them; all Russian aircraft remained in international airspace.
Feb 19 (Reuters) - The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said on Thursday it detected and tracked multiple Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) off Alaska.
NORAD detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s, two Su-35s, and one A-50 operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification zone, the U.S and Canadian defense organization said in a statement.
NORAD said it responded by launching two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3, and four KC-135s to intercept, positively identify, and escort the aircraft.
The Russian military aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD said, adding that the aircraft were escorted until they departed the Alaskan ADIZ.
(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
NORAD detected multiple Russian military aircraft in the Alaskan ADIZ on Feb. 19, 2026, and launched U.S. jets to intercept, identify and escort them without any breach of U.S. or Canadian airspace.
Russia flew two Tu-95 bombers, two Su-35 fighters and an A-50 AEW&C. NORAD responded with two F-35s, two F-16s, an E-3 and four KC-135 tankers.
No. The aircraft operated in the Alaskan ADIZ and remained in international airspace. There was no entry into U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace.
While routine, such intercepts can raise geopolitical risk sentiment, potentially influencing defense equities, energy prices and safe-haven flows.
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