United States jets intercept Russian planes near aircraft carrier

While the USS Ronald Reagan sent up four combat aircraft to deal with the two bombers, the entire incident took place in global waters, making the approach completely legal if not somewhat provocative and potentially risky.

The two Russian TU-142 Bear aircraft were flying about a mile from the carrier at an altitude of 500 feet on Tuesday, said a Pentagon spokesman, Captain Jeff Davis.

In June 2014, an Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft was intercepted by Russian fighters in the Northern Pacific drawing similar complaints.

South Korean military aircraft first intercepted the Russian planes before the USA jets escorted them from the area.

"It's standard operating procedure for USA planes to escort aircraft flying if they are in the vicinity of a US ship - then that's standard procedure", said Navy Cmdr.

"His view is that Russia's political standing and the respect accorded to it have fallen away very much since the end of the Cold War", he said.

He said there was no evidence the Russian planes posed a direct threat.

He said this kind of incident is not unprecedented, noting: "It doesn't happen frequently but this did occur".

A Japanese government official said after the Shoigu announcement that Tokyo would protest the Kuril base and insisted that the Kurils, located north of Japan, are Japanese territory. The effort includes a new Arctic military command and increased icebreaker fleet. The report adds that the two Russian planes were Tu-142 Bears which have been described as maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Around the same time, a Russian Su-24 jet interceptor buzzed the destroyer USS Ross in the Black Sea, near occupied Crimea.