PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is conducting exercise flights this week (June 27-30) as they practice intercept and identification procedures.
At approximately 10:00 tomorrow morning, people living in or around Edmonton, Alberta may hear or see NORAD-controlled fighter jets in close proximity to a U.S. Air Force B-52, which will be taking on the role of a Track of Interest (TOI). The exercise flights could be cancelled due to weather concerns.
In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios. These exercises are carefully planned, closely controlled and include exercising airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft.
NORAD has conducted exercise flights of this nature throughout Canada and the U.S. since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the command’s response to the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.
NORAD is the bi-national Canadian and American command that provides maritime warning, aerospace warning and aerospace control for Canada and the United States. The command has three subordinate regional headquarters: the Alaskan NORAD Region at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; the Canadian NORAD Region at Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg, Manitoba; and the Continental NORAD Region at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.