Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Three Russian fighter jets scrambled to escort a U.S. Air Force plane over the Pacific Ocean after it reportedly approached Russian airspace, the National Defense Command Center said.
Three Russian Sukhoi-35S fighters escorted a U.S. B-52H strategic bomber after air radars in the Eastern Military Region identified an air target approaching Russian airspace over the Pacific Ocean, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
"The fighters' crews identified the target as a strategic B-52H bomber of the U.S. Air Force and escorted it over the Pacific Ocean. There were no violations of Russia's state border or dangerous proximity of planes in the air," the center said.
The center added that the Russian fighters "strictly followed" international rules of using airspace.
NATO scrambled fighter jets 10 times to track and intercept an unusually "rare peak" of Russian bombers and fighters over the North Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea in March.
In August, two Russian Su-27 Flanker pilots intercepted a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber over international waters in the Black Sea.