U.S. fighter jets scrambled to track Russia spy plane off Alaska for 4th time in week

The United States military scrambled fighter jets again Tuesday to track another Russian spy plane flying near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said .

It was the latest in a series of similar incidents within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, which is a section of international airspace just outside of U.S. and Canadian sovereign space that both countries monitor for national security reasons. The zone begins where U.S. territory ends off the coast of Alaska, and aircrafts from other countries are required to identify themselves to the U.S. and Canada when they enter.

Russian military activity in the identification zone is common and not considered a threat , said NORAD. On Tuesday, the command said it detected and surveilled one IL-20 COOT, a Ru