Vigilant Eagle 2013
The Russian Federation Air Force (RFAF) and the bi-national (United States & Canada) North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will conduct a live-fly exercise to continue building and strengthening the cooperation and partnership established between the three countries during the VIGILANT EAGLE (VE) exercise series.
The VIGILANT EAGLE (VE) exercise series has been an extraordinary and historic opportunity for NORAD and Russia to coordinate on the response to a mutually... read more
The Russian Federation Air Force (RFAF) and the bi-national (United States & Canada) North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will conduct a live-fly exercise to continue building and strengthening the cooperation and partnership established between the three countries during the VIGILANT EAGLE (VE) exercise series.
The VIGILANT EAGLE (VE) exercise series has been an extraordinary and historic opportunity for NORAD and Russia to coordinate on the response to a mutually acknowledged hijacking threat. Tabletop Exercises (TTXs), Communications Exercises (COMEXs) and Command Post Exercises (CPXs) in 2008, 2010 and 2011 established the working relationships and technical solution for information sharing that enabled the successful cooperative live-fly events (FTXs) in 2010 and 2011.
This year, the Russian Federation Air Force and NORAD will conduct their Fourth Vigilant Eagle exercise from 26-30 August 2013 with live-fly on 26 and 27 August.
The exercise will comprise three Russian Federation fighters (SU-27 or SU-30), one A-50 (safety and aircraft control) and one Track of interest (TOI) (TU-154). From NORAD, there will be three fighters (CF-18, one AWACS (E-3) and one TOI (ASTRA jet).
The basic scenario involves a foreign flagged carrier (TOI) on an international flight seized by terrorists. In the exercise, the aircraft does not deviate from the approved flight plan routing, but they do not respond to communications. However, the exercise scenario will have enough background information for both the Russian Federation Air Force and NORAD to launch or divert fighter aircraft to investigate and shadow the track of interest (TOI).
The exercise will focus on national procedures for monitoring the situation and the cooperative hand-off of the TOI from one nation to the other while exchanging air tracking information. NORAD and the Russian Federation Air Force will focus on coordinating their response to the incident.
The exercise will be conducted as two events. On August 26th, the first day of the exercise, an aircraft (TOI) will travel from Anchorage, Alaska toward Anadyr, Russia. On August 27th, the second day, an aircraft (TOI) will travel from Anadyr, Russia toward Anchorage, US.
As in the previous exercises, the Russian Federation Air Force and NORAD will exchange exercise controllers and liaison officers to facilitate the exercise. Russian Federation Air Force officers will be in the Alaskan NORAD Region in Anchorage, Alaska and at HQ NORAD in Colorado Springs, Colo, and NORAD officers may be in the corresponding Russian Federation Air Force control centers.
NORAD's mission - in close collaboration with homeland defense, security, and law enforcement partners - is to prevent air attacks against North America, safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces, and provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America.
NORAD is the bi-national Canadian and American command that is responsible for the air defense of North America and maritime warning. The command has three subordinate regional headquarters: the Alaskan NORAD Region at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; the Canadian NORAD Region at Winnipeg, Manitoba; and the Continental NORAD Region at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. The command is poised both tactically and strategically in our nation's capital to provide a multilayered defense to detect, deter and prevent potential threats flying over the airspace of the United States and Canada.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For further information, please contact NORAD Public Affairs at (719) 554-6889 or visit our Web sites at www.norad.mil
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