JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The Western Air Defense Sector will conduct air
defense exercise Felix Hawk over the El Centro area of southern California on
Apr. 16, 2014.
Felix Hawk is designed to test WADS’ intercept and identification procedures
for a variety of scenarios involving possible hostile aircraft. Residents in
the El Centro, Calif. areas may observe F-16 aircraft or C-21 aircraft
participating in the exercise between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. PDT. These
training flights are coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration and
the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region.
In the event of inclement weather the exercise will be canceled.
These exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled to ensure WADS’s
rapid response capability. WADS has conducted exercise flights of this nature
throughout the western region since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the
command’s response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
WADS and its eastern counterpart - Eastern Air Defense Sector in Rome, N.Y.,
are part of the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command
Region. CONR, as the continental United States geographical component of the
bi-national command NORAD, provides airspace surveillance and control, and
directs air sovereignty activities for the CONUS region. CONR and its assigned
Air Force assets throughout the country ensure air safety and security against
potential air threats.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD fighters have responded to more than 5,000 possible
air threats in the United States, Canada and Alaska, and have flown more than
62,500 sorties with the support of Airborne Warning and Control System and air-to-air-refueling
aircraft.