UPDATED 3:22 AM EST, February 18, 2013
Two Russian nuclear-capable bombers were intercepted near Guam last week, U.S. military officials told NBC News reporters Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube. U.S. Air Force F-15 jets scrambled from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam to intercept the bombers as they circled the U.S. island. According to one military official, the Russian bombers remained in international airspace and the encounter between the U.S. and Russian aircraft “stayed professional.” U.S. radars and satellites tracked the bombers from northeastern Russia and headed south on a long-range flight. U.S. military officials said “it’s highly unusual but not unprecedented” that Russian bombers would fly training missions in the vicinity of Guam.
