ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The U.S. military has deployed approximately 130 soldiers and mobile rocket launchers to a remote island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain, following a rise in Russian military aircraft and naval vessels approaching U.S. territory.
Over the past week, eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, were detected near Alaska as Russia and China conducted joint military drills. While none of the planes entered U.S. airspace, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday there is no immediate cause for concern.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Russian and Chinese aircraft in the area. It’s something we monitor closely and are prepared to respond to,” Ryder stated during a news conference.
In response, the U.S. Army launched a “force projection operation” on Sept. 12, sending troops to Shemya Island, about 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. Shemya Island, home to a U.S. Air Force station established during World War II, now hosts two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) brought by the soldiers.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) confirmed that the U.S. military also dispatched a guided missile destroyer and a Coast Guard vessel to the region in response to Russia and China’s “Ocean-24” military exercises, which began on Sept. 10 in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracked and detected Russian military planes operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) across a four-day period, with two planes appearing each day on Sept. 11, 13, 14, and 15. The ADIZ is a zone beyond U.S. sovereign airspace where identification of foreign aircraft is expected.
The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., has yet to respond to requests for comment.
According to NORAD, the number of these encounters fluctuates yearly, with an average of six to seven intercepts annually. Last year, 26 Russian planes entered the Alaska zone, while there have been 25 incidents so far this year.
During such events, the U.S. military typically releases photos of Russian warplanes being escorted by U.S. or Canadian jets, such as the interception of Russian and Chinese planes on July 24. However, no photos were provided in the past week, and NORAD spokeswoman Maj. Jennie Derenzis declined to confirm if jets were scrambled in response.
On Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that its homeland security vessel, the 418-foot Stratton, encountered four Russian naval vessels, including two submarines, near the Chukchi Sea, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Point Hope, Alaska. The Russian ships crossed into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, a move allowed under international maritime rules.
Two years ago, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel in the Bering Sea near Kiska Island came across a joint Russian-Chinese naval formation.
Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Ryder acknowledged the recent uptick in Russian and Chinese military activity but stated that it “doesn’t pose a threat from our perspective.”
Sen. Sullivan, advocating for a stronger military presence in the region, called for the reopening of Naval Air Facility Adak, a base in the Aleutians that closed in 1997.
“In the past two years, we’ve seen joint Russian-Chinese air and naval exercises off our shores, as well as a Chinese spy balloon over our communities,” Sullivan remarked on Tuesday. “These incidents underscore the Arctic’s growing role in the geopolitical competition between the U.S., Russia, and China.”