American aircraft intercepted a Russian surveillance flight Tuesday off the coast of Alaska for the fifth time in the past week, defense officials said Wednesday.

An Ilyushin IL-20 surveillance aircraft flew into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the joint U.S.-Canadian air defense operation based at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado.

National borders extend 12 miles from land under international law. The ADIZ is an additional buffer zone of up to 150 miles into international airspace created by the U.S. and Canada in which visual identification of all aircraft is required.

NORAD responded by scrambling two F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters, one E-3 Sentry surveillance plane, and one KC-135 Stratotanker refueling tank

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