Foreign Military

The U.S. Coast Guard spotted four foreign military vessels in the Bering Sea Saturday. Coast Guard officials say the joint patrol between Russian and Chinese ships shows their “increased interest in the Arctic.”

The U.S. Coast Guard encountered a Russian ship near the Aleutians Monday, less than a month after identifying Chinese military ships in the region. The Coast Guard said Friday that the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley identified a Russian Federation Vishnya class naval vessel. The Soviet-era ships were built for intelligence gathering and are armed with weapons systems, including surface-to-air missile launchers.