US F-22 fighter jets intercept Russian bombers near Alaska
lite.cnn.io
lite.cnn.io
"A US official previously told CNN that the military sees these flights as routine and said they pose no concern."
In other words: it's nothing to worry about. At least not in the short term.
I thought they did, since scrambling the jets demonstrates to the Russians that the US's air defense network is tight. It also helps keep the pilots from getting lax. The Russians do the same thing with the US files near their airspace.
However, I've been told by people in a position to know that the actual game is to attempt to intercept the Russian planes before they get within cruise missile range of Anchorage.
The USAF doesn't always manage to do that.
They do.
ASCC reporting names had occasional triumphs like that but often they were blocked and had to pick more mundane names. The original Tu-22 was BEAUTY but became BLINDER to sound less appreciative. MIG-15 went from FALCON to FAGOT likewise.
Since Putin has been in power, the number of incidents has jumped back up to near Cold War levels.