US moves soldiers, rocket launchers to Alaska island following Russian activity

LAUREN TAYLOR: THE UNITED STATES DEPLOYED APPROXIMATELY 130 SOLDIERS AND MOBILE ROCKET LAUNCHERS TO A WESTERN ALASKAN ISLAND – AS RUSSIA AND CHINA CONDUCTED JOINT MILITARY DRILLS CLOSE TO AMERICAN TERRITORY.

THE TWO NATIONS’ ‘OCEAN-24’ JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES IN THE PACIFIC AND ARCTIC OCEANS PROMPTED A ROBUST U.S. RESPONSE. EIGHT RUSSIAN MILITARY PLANES AND FOUR NAVY VESSELS, INCLUDING TWO SUBMARINES, HAVE APPROACHED ALASKA DURING THESE DRILLS.

THE NORTH AMERICAN AEROSPACE DEFENSE COMMAND, ALSO KNOWN AS “NORAD” — REPORTS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN RUSSIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT ACTIVITY NEAR ALASKA, WITH PLANES DETECTED OVER A FOUR-DAY PERIOD THIS MONTH. WHILE NO AIRCRAFT BREACHED U.S. SOVEREIGN AIRSPACE, THEIR PRESENCE IN THE ALASKA AIR DEFENSE IDENTIFICATION ZONE (ADIZ) IS NOTABLE.

AND IN JULY, U.S. AND CANADIAN FIGHTERS INTERCEPTED A JOINT RUSSIAN-CHINESE AIR PATROL NEAR ALASKA, INVOLVING SIX FIGHTER JETS.

AIR FORCE MAJ. GEN. PAT RYDER / PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY:

“To my knowledge, those aircraft did not enter into US airspace. And it’s not the first time that we’ve seen the Russians and the Chinese flying, you know, in — in the vicinity. And that’s something that we obviously closely monitor, and it’s also something that we’re prepared to respond to. But in this particular case, it did not pose a threat to — to US national security. And I’d refer you to the Russians in terms of why they feel compelled to want to look at the United States a little bit closer.”

LAUREN TAYLOR: THE U.S. HAS ALSO DEPLOYED A GUIDED MISSILE DESTROYER AND A COAST GUARD VESSEL TO WESTERN ALASKA IN RESPONSE TO THE ‘OCEAN-24’ JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN FRAMES THESE JOINT OPERATIONS AS STRENGTHENING MILITARY COOPERATION WITH ‘FRIENDLY STATES,’ WHILE ACCUSING THE UNITED STATES OF ATTEMPTING TO MAINTAIN GLOBAL MILITARY DOMINANCE.