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“We’re always aware of those aircraft and we will take a decision to intercept these aircraft and escort them just to make sure our presence is known and the ability for us to defend Canada and the United States remains,” said Major Andrew Hennessy, a NORAD spokesman.

Photo by North American Aerospace Defense Command

“Certainly, the Russians know that we’re there,” he said of the proximity of the fighters to the Russian aircraft.

The closest the Russian jets got to the Alaskan coast was approximately 50 nautical miles; they did not enter Canadian or American air space.

Similar aviation probing and responses in the north were a high-stakes feature over decades during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West after the Second World War, when nuclear bomber flights and air patrols were a virtual constant.

The aviation cat-and-mouse ended with the close of the Cold War and the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, but Russia recommenced its long-range reconnaissance flights in 2007, amid increasing tension between it and the U.S.

This is the second time this year that NORAD planes intercepted Russian military aircraft. There were six incursions last year. The number has varied from a high of 15 to a low of zero since the Russians started such flights again in 2007.

“On every occasion, Russian aircraft are identified by NORAD; but circumstances vary and so do our responses,” said Hennessy.