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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 8159227" data-attributes="member: 92282"><img src="http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20090227/450_TU95_090227.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian bombers in the  Arctic as they approached Canadian airspace on the eve of a visit from  Canada's prime minister who will observe an Arctic military exercise, a  spokesman for the prime minister said Wednesday.                     Dimitri  Soudas, Stephen Harper's director of communications, said two Canadian  CF-18 jets shadowed a pair of Russian TU-95 Bear jets in international  airspace on Tuesday.                     Soudas said the bombers  flew within 30 miles (50 kilometers) of Canadian soil. They were first  spotted approximately 120 nautical miles north of Inuvik, Northwest  Territories.                     "Thanks to the rapid response of  the Canadian Forces, at no time did the Russian aircraft enter  sovereign Canadian airspace," Soudas said in an e-mail.                     Soudas  warned that the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint U.S.  and Canadian agency, "carefully monitors all air activities in the North  and considers all options to protect the air sovereignty of Canada and  the United States."                     Harper is due to observe  an annual military exercise in the Canadian Arctic on Wednesday. Soudas  said Harper was briefed during and at the conclusion of the intercept  mission. He said the Canadian jets returned to base without incident.                     Canada  has linked recent Russian flights in the area to the competition  between Canada, Russia, the U.S. and other countries to secure Arctic  resources. With polar ice melting there are new opportunities to exploit  the region's oil, gas and mineral reserves.                     Two  Russian bombers were intercepted last month off Canada's East Coast  near the Arctic and in February 2009, fighter jets scrambled to  intercept a Russian bomber in the Arctic as it approached Canadian  airspace on the eve of President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa. The  Russians said then the plane never encroached on Canadian airspace and  that Canada had been told about the flight beforehand. Canada's defense  minister said Russia gives no warning prior to the flight, despite  Canada's request for Russia to do so.                     Harper has made the Arctic a priority by making annual trips and pledging to increase Canada's military presence.                     Soviet  aircraft regularly flew near North American airspace during the Cold  War but stopped after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Several years  ago, Russian jets resumed these types of flights.                     Soudas  noted Canada's recent purchase of 65 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets  from U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp. The $8.5 billion  purchase, one of the biggest military equipment purchases in the  country's history, is due to be debated at parliamentary defense  committee on Wednesday. The jets will replace the Air Force's aging  fleet of CF-18s.<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129422223" target="_blank">NPR</a></blockquote>

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