North American Aerospace Defense Command aircraft will conduct exercise flights today between Greenville and Inverness, Florida, as the fighter aircraft practice intercept and identification procedures. The exercise will occur between 10:00 a.m. and noon EST.
Florida residents between Greenville and Inverness may hear and/or see low-flying NORAD-controlled fighter jets in close proximity to civilian aircraft, which will be taking on the role of an aircraft of interest.
In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft. All NORAD exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled.
Although they are scheduled to begin in the morning, the flights could be delayed for 24 hours or cancelled due to weather.
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 Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; the Canadian NORAD Region at Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg, Manitoba; and the Continental NORAD Region at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
