The strike group participated in Exercise Key Resolve/Foal Eagle which began on 28 February 2009. Key Resolve/Foal Eagle was held in the aftermath of the sinking of the ROK corvette "Cheonan" and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea. During the exercise, the aircraft carrier "Stennis" was overflown by two Russian Ilyushin Il-38 maritime patrol aircraft on 16 March and two Tupolev Tu-95 long-range bombers on 17 March. Both time the Russian aircraft were intercepted and escorted by &lt;a href="McDonnell%20Douglas%20F/A-18%20Hornet"&gt;F/A-18 Hornets&lt;/a&gt; until the Russian aircraft left the exercise area.