TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, along with its Alaskan and Canadian counterparts, will participate in Exercise Amalgam Dart Tuesday through Thursday off the coasts of northwestern U.S., western Canada and Alaska.
The exercise is designed to hone NORAD, CONR, Alaskan and Canadian NORAD Region's intercept and identification operations. These exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled to ensure a rapid response capability.
CONR, along with its Eastern and Western Air Defense Sectors, provides airspace surveillance and control and directs all air sovereignty activities over the continental United States. CANR and ANR control airspace in Canada and Alaska respectively.
U.S. Air Force C-21 jets will take on the role as tracks of interest. They will fly during daylight hours at altitudes above 15,000 feet off the Alaskan, British Columbian, Washington and Oregon Coasts.
For the CONR piece of the exercise, the Western Air Defense Sector, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., will scramble Air Force fighters and direct them to intercept the C-21s. The fighters will be F-15 Eagles from the Air National Guard's 142nd Fighter Wing in Portland, Ore., and 120th FW in Great Falls, Mont. An E-3 Sentry from the 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker AFB, Okla., will provide airborne warning and control. KC-135 Stratotankers from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild AFB, Wash., will provide aerial refueling to the E-3.
ANR and CANR will scramble fighters as the TOIs move into their respective airspace areas.
NORAD and CONR have conducted exercise flights of this nature throughout the U.S. and Canada since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the command's response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, CONR has responded to more than 2,600 possible air threats in the United States and has flown more than 56,400 sorties with the support of Airborne Warning and Control System and air-to-air-refueling aircraft.