Russian bomber flights buzzing U.S. airspace doubled last year

[Geee]

Washington Times:

The number of long-range Russian strategic bomber flights that buzzed U.S. airspace doubled last year from their norm, forcing American jets to frequently scramble and capturing the attention of hawks in Congress who believe the Kremlin is sending a veiled warning to President Obama to keep out of its affairs in Ukraine.

 

Russian bombers intruded into the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone — a transition area around U.S. airspace where the U.S. does not claim sovereignty but keeps close watch — at least 10 times in 2014, double the average of five incursions a year dating to 2006, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD.

 

The Air Force monitors for such incursions and requests information from all aircraft entering the Air Defense Identification Zone, and the Navy patrols the oceanic Exclusive Economic Zone below, a 200-mile buffer to the territorial sea.