China and Russia launched an unprecedented joint naval drill near US waters earlier this week, sparking a major response from the US Navy, officials have said.
Eleven Russian and Chinese ships steamed close to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska in a 'highly provocative' move amid escalating tensions with the US.
It is believed to be the largest such flotilla to have approached American shores.
Four US destroyers and a P-8 Poseidon aircraft were deployed in response to divert the ships away from American territory to avert a serious international incident, officials said.
Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Wall Street Journal the patrol was a reminder that the US has entered 'a new era of authoritarian aggression,' but praised the strong naval response.
He compared it to a similar but smaller incident last September, in which the US sent a single Coast Guard cutter to chaperone a Chinese guided missile cruiser alongside two other Chinese ships and four Russian ships about 90 miles north of the Aleutian Islands.
The size of the latest joint China-Russia operation is 'an historical first,' according to Brent Sadler, a senior researcher.
A spokesman for the US Northern Command confirmed Russia and China had carried out a combined naval patrol near Alaska, but didn't specify the number of ships or their precise location.
'Air and maritime assets under our commands conducted operations to assure the defense of the United States and Canada. The patrol remained in international waters and was not considered a threat,' the command told the WSJ.
The USS John S. McCain, the USS Benfold, the USS John Finn and the USS Chung-Hoon were deployed in response, a US defense official said.
The drills come amid an emerging power battle in the Arctic, as the Russian and Chinese navies seek to counter US alliances with Japan, South Korea and other regional partners.
Russian warships and Chinese research vessels have been spotted in Arctic waters before, but joint patrols are a new development.
Admiral John Aquilino, who leads the US Indo-Pacific Command, said last month that joint Russian and Chinese exercises have increased.
'I only see the cooperation getting stronger, and boy that's concerning. That's a dangerous world,' he told the Aspen Security Forum.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said the patrol earlier this week wasn't aimed at Washington.
'According to the annual cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian militaries, naval vessels of the two countries have recently conducted joint maritime patrols in relevant waters in the western and northern Pacific Ocean.
'This action is not targeted at any third party and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation,' the Chinese Embassy spokesman, Liu Pengyu, said.
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