A multilateral exercise with the US, Canada, and Russia has been cancelled because of Russia’s continued military aggression in Ukraine, reported ABC News via the Associated Press. This year’s exercise would have marked the sixth year for Vigilant Eagle, typically conducted near Alaska in August or September. During last year’s exercise, which utilized both US and Russian airspace, Canadian CF-18s and Russian Sukhois scrambled to identify and follow a “hijacked” aircraft. Air Force and Russian command and control aircraft also participated. Alaska’s News Miner newspaper reported that the 2014 exercise would have included the Japan Self Defense Force for the first time.
Multiple U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters have deployed to the strategic outpost of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to protect the myriad of assets deployed there, including strategic bombers.