US Army soldiers were deployed to a remote island southeast of Alaska last week as part of a “force protection operation” amid an expected increase in Russian and Chinese military exercises in the region,

About 130 U.S. soldiers are returning to their bases after being deployed last week to a remote western Alaska island with mobile rocket launchers amid a spike in Russian military activity off the western reaches of the U.

The Army conducted a 'force projection' training exercise on Shemya Island, a remote Alaskan island less than 300 miles from the Russian coast.

The deployment to Shemya Island involved soldiers from Alaska, Washington and Hawaii with the 11th Airborne Division and the 1st and 3rd Multi Domain Task Forces.

Russian military planes and navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska in the past week as Russia and China conducted joint drills.