Two F-22s from JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, intercepted Russian Tu-95 Bears off the coast of Alaska on Monday. Two Russian bombers were tracked flying in international airspace, when the two F-22s were scrambled and conducted an intercept the Pentagon said was “safe and professional,” according to The Associated Press. The bombers flew as close as 100 miles from Alaska’s Kodiak Island, and F-22s flew alongside the bombers for about 12 minutes, according to AP.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…