Russian and Chinese bombers flew together for the first time in international airspace off the coast of Alaska, in a new show of growing military cooperation that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said raised concerns Thursday.
Wednesday’s flights were not perceived as a threat and the bombers were tracked and intercepted by American and Canadian fighter jets.
But it was the first time Chinese bombers had flown into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone.
It was the first time that Chinese and Russian planes took off from the same base in northeastern Russia.
“This is a relationship that has always concerned us, primarily because we are concerned that China is supporting Russia’s illegal and unnecessary war in Ukraine,” Austin told reporters.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, detected, tracked and intercepted the two Russian Tupolev Tu-95 long-range bombers and the two Chinese H-6 bombers.
The plane, Austin said, did not enter U.S. airspace and only came within about 200 miles of the coast.
However, they were within the ADIZ, which begins where sovereign airspace ends, and aircraft must be easily identifiable and file flight plans for authorization to meet national security requirements.
China and Russia have both acknowledged what they called a joint patrol over the Bering Sea, which divides Russia and Alaska.
Their growing military relationship has raised concerns among both NATO allies and nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
NATO allies have called China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine through its “limitless partnership” with Russia and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base.
The allies issued a strongly worded statement, approved by all 32 members at their summit in Washington earlier this month.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the patrol also flew over the Chukchi Sea, located north of the Bering Strait, and the exercises lasted more than five hours.
The joint patrol tested and improved coordination between the two air forces, said Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for China’s Defense Ministry.
He said it was the eighth joint strategic air patrol since 2019. He declined to comment when asked if it was the first such patrol over the Bering Sea.
While the Russian military has long been active in the North Pacific, China has emerged as a new player in recent years as its growing navy and air force expand their presence further from the country’s shores.
In Chinese state media, the drill was called “a major leap forward in the actual combat training capabilities of the Chinese air force,” according to Wang Mingzhi, a Chinese military expert interviewed on state broadcaster CCTV.
Wang cited the fact that the mission was far from ground support and in unfamiliar territory, saying it demonstrated the support’s ability to operate effectively in long-range missions.
Shen Yi, a professor of international politics at Fudan University, wrote in his column that the Chinese flights were aimed at demonstrating the country’s deterrence and had symbolic significance in the rivalry between the United States and China.
“China is strengthening its capabilities to conduct effective strategic games with the United States and maintain strategic stability,” Shen wrote. “As this system continuously improves, it can effectively deter the United States.”
A photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry shows a Russian Su-30 fighter jet escorting a Chinese bomber.
Another photo posted online by Chinese state television’s military channel CCTV shows Russian and Chinese long-wing bombers flying in parallel formation in a mostly blue sky.
The Japanese military is increasingly concerned about the China-Russia joint exercises and the potential threat they pose to Japanese and regional security.
A fleet of Russian and Chinese fighter jets, including Tu-95s and H-6s, were spotted flying together last December over the waters between Japan and Korea, Japan’s defense ministry said.
At the time, the Chinese Defense Ministry announced that this was the seventh joint strategic air patrol with Russia.
Chinese warships have appeared in international waters near Alaska, most recently in mid-July, when the Coast Guard spotted four vessels in the U.S. exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from shore.
Zhang described the naval activity as routine combat readiness training and said China would continue to conduct deep-sea training to improve the capabilities of its troops.
