The United States Navy reported on Thursday that it scrambled four fighter planes from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to intercept two Russian Tu 142 fighter planes that were flying close to the carrier. The Russian fighters were flying at only 500 feet and were within one nautical mile of the Reagan.

The Navy announced that it was standard procedure to launch four F/A 18 fighters out to meet the Russians and escort them from the immediate area, according to CNN. The USS Reagan was involved in training exercises with the South Korean navy at the time. The exercises were taking place just off the coast of South Korea. The American pilots hailed the Russians but said that they received no response in return.

The Navy stated that the scrambling of the jets was a standard operating procedure and that they didn’t consider the encounter with the Russian warplanes to be aggressive or dangerous. A naval vessel followed the Russian fighters until they were escorted far out of range of the Reagan. Besides the carrier, the navy said that guided missile cruisers and guided missile destroyers were, also, involved in the training exercises.

While such close encounters were quite normal during the Cold War, such encounters are rare to today. American fighters intercepted Russian fighters back in July off the coasts of both Alaska and California. The Russian pilots hailed the American pilots and told them that they wished to send their greetings on America’s Independence Day.

Much of the new aggression can be laid at the feet of Russian president, Vladimir Putin. He is one, analysts say, to be unafraid to flex the military might of Russia. Putin has long believed and publicly stated that Russia had lost prestige in the world since the end of the Cold War. Russian shows of strength, and even their intervention in the Syrian civil war, is a message to the world that Russia is still a world power that must be taken seriously and to be reckoned with.