In the week the U.S. revealed a Russian warplane narrowly missed one of their fighter jets, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) have reported an ominous joint patrol by Chinese and Russian coast guards.
The USCG say they located four vessels from the Russian Border Guard and Chinese Coast Guard conducting a joint patrol in the Bering Sea on Saturday (28 Sep).
The USCG said: “This marked the northernmost location where Chinese Coast Guard vessels have been observed by the U.S. Coast Guard.”
A HC-130J Super Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak observed the small flotilla approximately 440 miles southwest of St. Lawrence Island, which is part of Alaska.
The vessels were transiting in formation in a northeast direction, remaining approximately five miles inside the Russian Exclusive Economic Zone.
However, Rear Adm. Megan Dean, commander of the 17th Coast Guard District, highlighted the unusual behaviour from Russia and China.
Rear Adm. Megan Dean remarked: “This recent activity demonstrates the increased interest in the Arctic by our strategic competitors.
“The demand for Coast Guard services across the region continues to grow, requiring continuous investment in our capabilities to meet our strategic competitors’ presence and fulfill our statutory missions across an expanding operational area.”
The HC-130 aircrew operated under Operation Frontier Sentinel, an operation designed to “meet presence with presence” when strategic competitors operate in and around U.S. waters.
On 23 September, a U.S. Air Force F-16 was conducting a routine intercept of a Russian Tu-95 aircraft in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) when a Russian Su-35 aircraft conducted an unsafe manoeuvre directed at the F-16.