US military exercise Northern Edge 2021 with 15,000 troops and 240 different aircraft begins Monday, May 3, in Alaska. This was announced by the press secretary of the US Department of Defense John Kirby.
According to him, servicemen of the American Air Force, Ground Forces, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its escort ships will be involved in the exercises, TASS reports.
“(The exercise) focuses on high-quality, realistic training of combatants to develop and improve joint operational interaction and increase combat readiness,” Kirby said.
Earlier, on May 1, it was reported that the US Air Force RC-135V on May 1 made a multi-hour reconnaissance flight near the Russian borders in the Far East. It was noted that the plane took off from Eilson airbase in Alaska and cruised off the southeastern coast of Kamchatka.
In 2019, the United States already conducted Northern Edge exercises in Alaska, which involved about 10 thousand troops, 250 aircraft, including the latest fifth-generation fighters F-35B of the Marine Corps and F-22 Air Force, as well as five ships, among which included the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its escort destroyers Russell, Kidd and John Finn, as well as the tanker Henry Kaiser.