Harper: 'We will defend our airspace'

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Canada will not tolerate Russian intrusions into Canadian airspace, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday.

"I have expressed at various times the deep concern our government has with increasingly aggressive Russian actions around the globe and Russian intrusions into our airspace," Harper said at a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, news conference.

"This government has responded every time the Russians have done that," he said. "We will continue to respond -- we will defend our airspace."

His comments followed a disclosure from Defense Minister Peter MacKay Friday morning that Canadian warplanes intercepted an approaching Russian bomber hours before U.S. President Barack Obama's Ottawa visit last week.

Canadian defense and North American Aerospace Defense Command officials later said two Russian warplanes, not just one, were involved in the incident, Canwest News Service reported.

Norad identified the Russian aircraft as twin-propeller, turboprop Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber and missile carriers, known by NATO as the "Bear."

A Russian air force official confirmed the Feb. 18 incident, but said the warplanes were Tupolev Tu-160 supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bombers, with a NATO reporting name of "Blackjack."

"The Tupolev-160 fulfilled all its air patrol tasks. It was a planned flight," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik told the RIA Novosti news agency.

Drik said the crew followed international air protocols and did not violate Canadian airspace.

Harper said Canada would "respond every time the Russians make any kind of intrusion on the sovereignty of Canada's Arctic."

"That's our obligation and that's what we'll do," he said.