US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II fighter jet
A Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II joint strike fighter flies toward its new home at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in this U.S. Air Force picture taken on January 11, 2011. Lockheed Martin Corp on Monday said it has delivered the next version of the computer-based logistics system used to support the F-35 fighter jet to the U.S. military for flight testing. Reuters/Stringer

The standoff between the West and Russia is spreading to areas beyond Eastern Europe. A latest report says the American and Canadian military intercepted Russian military aircraft near Alaska and Canada. It is unclear whether it was an effort to breach the airspace of North America. A couple of days ago, a couple of F-22 fighter jets of the US intercepted six Russian military planes flying near Alaska, reported Fox News.

The US military officials updated that the Russian military planes were intercepted 55 miles off Alaska. There were reports of a Russian build up in the Arctic where the US and Canada have strategic assets. Lt Col Michael Jazdyk, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said the jets were spotted on Wednesday off the Alaskan coast.

The Russian fleet included refueling tankers of IL-78, Mig-31 fighter jets and long-range bombers. On scrambling by the U.S jets, the Russian planes moved to south and returned to their base. On the next day, at around 1:30 am, two long-range Russian Bear bombers were intercepted by Canadian CF-18 jets, some 40 nautical miles off the Canadian coastline in Beaufort Sea.The Russian planes were within the Air Defense Identification Zone that stretches 200 miles from the coastline. But it has not been confirmed whether the Russian planes actually transgressed the sovereign airspace of the USA or Canada.

Mild Warning

Jazdyk said the fighter jets were scrambled to make them know that they had been noticed and in case of a threat, action will be taken to protect the sovereign airspace. NORAD is jointly commanded by America and Canada and is responsible for air the defence of North America. A US official was quoted by CNN that Washington thinks the straying incidents were part of Russia's anxiety about the visit of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The United States will be offering Ukraine $46 million aid in nonlethal weapons in battling the pro-Russian militants.

The RT reported that there were reports that the encounters were linked with the annual Vostok military exercise in Russia's east. But Russian Defense Ministry denied it and said the flights were part of a surprise combat readiness exercise, held days before the Vostok war games. The Russian ministry also clarified that there were four Mig-31s in the group, intercepted near Alaska.