PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – The North American Aerospace Defense Command
(NORAD) is conducting exercise flights this week (December 3-5) as they
practice intercept and identification procedures.
Between the hours of 6:00 and 1:00, people
living in or around Jacksonville, Fla. may hear or see NORAD-controlled fighter
jets in close proximity to a military or military contracted aircraft, which
will be taking on the role of aircraft of interest. 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.