On July 24, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) intercepted two Chinese Xian H-6K bombers and two Russian Tu-95MS Bear bombers flying near Alaska. Both types of bombers are nuclear capable. The bombers were intercepted by American F-16s and F-35s and Canadian CF-18 fighter jets. While the aircraft remained in international airspace and did not fly into Canadian or U.S. sovereign airspace, they were operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). These joint flights come at a time of growing great power competition and solidifying the Chinese-Russian “no limits” partnership. This incident was the first of its kind for the two countries, showing a willingness of Beijing and Moscow to extend cooperation to their strategic nuclear forces and signaling their continued testing of U.S. resolve, including through actions in proximity to the U.S. homeland.