[quote]On July 4th, two pairs of Russian Tupolev Tu-95 bombers approached the US West coast, causing the Air Force to scramble to intercept the planes before they breached US airspace. Fox News reports that the first incident occurred at 10:30 am ET off the coast of Alaska, when NORAD identified the Russian planes and two F-22s hurried to intercept them. Another incident occurred at 11 am ET off the coast of central California, and was responded to by two F-15s. The Russian bombers they intercepted are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, but sources do not indicate whether or not they were armed. The Air Force intercepted the bombers before they entered America's sovereign air space, which extends 12 miles out from the coast, but the presence of the bombers is an ominous sign during the heightened tensions between Russia and the US. As retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, who formerly commanded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told the Washington Free Beacon:[u]“It’s becoming very obvious that Putin is testing Obama and his national security team.”[/u] Since the start of the crisis in Ukraine, Russia has flown increasingly aggressive aircraft missions throughout Europe and the Pacific. From May 2014 to September 2014, the US intercepted Russian bombers over Guam and off the coast of California and Alaska. In September, two Russian aircraft carried out a mock cruise missile attack on the US. [/quote] tl;dr two [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdjfsRd0HLI]Tupolev Tu-95 bombers[/url] were found nearing United States airspace and were intercepted. The last thing this world needs is a third world war instigated by classic rivals. Thoughts? Edit: Yes, I understand Fox News isn't the majority's new source here in Offtopic. However, I don't understand why a deal of the replies are zooming in on such an irrelevant detail. I don't have time to list multiple sources to cater to your own biases.