The skies were clear, or so it seemed, until NORAD, conceived to protect the US and Canada from Soviet bombers with state-of-the-art radars, satellites, and navigations systems, detected unidentified aircraft breaching the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone during an early morning of May 2024.
Communication operators at NORAD HQ were puzzled by the sudden alarms and the beeping of the systems detecting unidentified aircraft flying toward territorial airspace. As the seconds passed, the men in the comms room realized what was coming their way.
Fully loaded with nuclear ordnance, a pair of Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bear Strategic Bombers were closing in fast, and they were not alone.
Escorting them were two Sukhoi Su-35 Flankers, supermaneuverable air superiority fighters, ready to defend their bombers at all costs. NORAD, without hesitation, swiftly dispatches a pair of fast and reliable F-16s to intercept them.
A backup of other fighters and several tankers were ready to answer the call if things went sideways. As the F-16s made their way to the Russian aircraft, their orders echoed through the communications network: Engage the enemy if it breaches American airspace.
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