Questions Remain After Report That F-22s Scrambled Due To Major Russian Naval Exercise Near Hawaii

thedrive.com/the-war-zone ^ | Thomas Newdick and Tyler Rogoway

[RoosterRedux]

A report has emerged that major Russian naval maneuvers were underway in the Pacific when U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptor stealth fighters were scrambled from their base in Hawaii over the weekend, an incident you can read more about in The War Zone’s initial reporting. The Raptors were supposedly launched to investigate unspecified Russian long-range aircraft, part of a group of naval vessels and aircraft that were participating in a large-scale exercise around 300 to 500 miles west of the Hawaiian islands. The incident came immediately ahead of today’s summit meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva.

The pair of F-22s was launched this past Sunday on an alert scramble out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam at around 4:00 PM local time. They were joined by a third Raptor soon after and also had refueling support from a KC-135 tanker during their mission. The reported Russian aircraft that prompted all of this did not enter the Hawaiian Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) at any point and were not intercepted, according to CBS News, which reported this additional information.

U.S. military officials had previously described was described as an “irregular patrol" that was initiated at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but with no immediate indication as to why the jets had actually scrambled. The FAA has since remained tight-lipped, offering little more than the following terse comment in response to The War Zone’s repeated requests for more details:

[Tallguy]

Is it possible a TU-95 was attempting to use a schedule airline flight as a shield to sneak into the ADIZ? See how close they could get?

[StoneWall Brigade]

Ping

[Ozark Tom]

Commercial pilot report of military aircraft proximity sighting? Got buzzed.