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Two Russian Tu-95 Bear-H bomber crews flying close to the US coastline on 22 November were intercepted and escorted by two F-22 pilots from the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. This operational intercept is the first in Raptor history. The Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, Regional headquarters launched the Raptors as well as E-3 airborne warning and control assets and a tanker to positively identify and monitor the bombers. Russian President Vladimir Putin resumed regular long-range bomber patrols by the Russian Air Force to the US and European coastlines in 2007, a practice that had been discontinued for nearly a decade.
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