The North American Aerospace Defense Command detected Russian aircraft operating in the Alaska air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over a three day period from Friday to Sunday, the command said in a statement.
At the same time, Russian Navy and People’s Army Liberation Navy ships have been drilling together under the Russian major fleet’s exercise Ocean 2024, and German Navy ships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday.
On Friday, NORAD issued a release stating that it had detected and tracked two Russian Tu-142 military aircraft operating in the Alaska ADIZ that day. “The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat,” stated the release.
NORAD issued two releases on Sunday, the first stating that on Saturday, two Russian IL-38s were tracked in the Alaska ADIZ. The second release stated two Russian IL-38s were tracked in the Alaska ADIZ on Sunday, with similar statements that the aircraft did not enter U.S. or Canadian airspace and the activities were regular occurrences that were not seen as a threat. NORAD did not release any images of the aircraft nor reveal whether any interceptions were carried out.
The Russian Navy is wrapping up its weeklong exercise Ocean 2024 on Monday, though Russian Ministry of Defence (MOD) releases make no mention of Tu-142 and IL-38 conducting drills in the Bering Sea area covered by the Alaska ADIZ as part of the exercise. The MOD releases only mentioned Tu-142s and IL-38s taking part in the exercise conducting anti-submarine warfare drills in the Sea of Japan.
The Ocean 2024 involves more than 400 warships, submarines and support vessels, more than 120 naval aircraft and more than 90,000 personnel from the Russian Navy’s Northern, Baltic and Pacific Fleets and the Caspian Sea Flotilla. It takes place in the waters of the Pacific and Arctic oceans and the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic seas
China has dispatched cruiser CNS Wuxi (104), destroyer CNS Xining (117), frigate CNS Linyi (547) and fleet oiler CNS Taihu (889) to participate in Ocean 2024, a Russian MOD release on Thursday. The four PLAN ships together with Russian Navy corvettes RFS Sorvershenny (333), RFS Gromky (335) and RFS Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov (339) and other Russian ships formed a joint Russian-Chinese ship battle force that drilled together in the Sea of Japan, according to the release. The release stated that the joint force carried out anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, and anti-mine defense drills in the central part of the Sea of Japan where, under a joint command, the ships repelled an attack of the mock air enemy with artillery live fires, crossed a mine-hazardous area and destroyed a buoyant mine. “Russian and Chinese sailors also trained to fight against high-speed uncrewed surface vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as performed live fires at night to hit a naval target,” read the release.
On Monday, the Russian MOD issued a release stating the two sides carried out live fires of guns and missiles in the Sea of Japan with Russia sending 15 warships to participate, including cruiser RFS Varyag (011), destroyers RFS Marshal Shaposhnikov (543) and RFS Admiral Panteleyev (548), corvettes Sorvershenny, Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov and RFS Rezkiy (343) and two diesel submarines, with 10 Russian Air Force naval aircraft and the Russian Pacific fleet supporting the naval group while China participated with Wuxi, Xining and Linyi.
On Friday, German Navy frigate FGS Baden-Württemberg (F222) and replenishment ship FGS Frankfurt am Main (A1412) transied the Taiwan Strait. During a press conference in Lithuania that day, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed the transit, stating, “International waters are international waters, it’s the shortest route and, given the weather conditions, the safest, so we’re going through.”
The U.S Navy last conducted a transit of the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 22 with destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114), while the last U.S. partner nation to conduct a Taiwan Strait transit was Canada with frigate HMCS Montreal (FFH336) on Jul. 31. China has condemned the transit, with China’s Ministry of National Defense in a release on Saturday. Naval Senior Captain Li Xi, spokesperson for the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command, said the command had organized naval and air forces to track and monitor the German naval vessels’ transit. “Germany’s actions have increased security risks and sent wrong signals,” said Li in the release, adding that the command will remain on high alert and be ready to respond to all threats and provocations.
In a Saturday press conference, China Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Senior Col Wu Qian, said about the transit that, “Freedom of navigation does not mean all kinds of freedoms, even more so it does not mean to be able to provoke and harm China’s sovereignty and safety.” He added that the Chinese military has taken vigorous measures to thwart all provocative attempts, resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and resolutely maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Baden-Württemberg and Frankfurt am Main docked in Manila on Monday for a port visit and, prior to the Taiwan Strait transit, had been conducting surveillance patrols in support of U.N. sanctions on North Korea.
