T
he newly stationed F-22 force at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, chalked up an operational first last month—scrambling to intercept and monitor two Russian Bear-H bombers on Nov. 22. Air Force magazine learned Dec. 14 that the Alaskan NORAD Region launched F-22s assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf and tanker and command and control aircraft to identify and monitor the two bombers. Region spokesman Maj. Allen Herritage confirmed also that the mission was the first time F-22s had been called to support a NORAD mission in Alaska, since Elmendorf received its first Raptors in August. The Alaskan NORAD Region conducts air surveillance on all aircraft entering Alaskan air space, utilizing Alaskan-stationed F-15Cs, E-3s, KC-135s, and now the F-22. This past summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin reactivated regular bomber patrols—a practice that had been dormant since the early 1990s.
The Pentagon agency charged with building and operating U.S. spy satellites recently declassified some details about a Cold War-era surveillance program called Jumpseat—a revelation it says sheds light on the importance of satellite imaging technology and how it has advanced in the decades since.
