CONR-1AF supports Arctic Exercise Amalgam Dart 21-1

Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region - First Air Force (Air Forces Northern) continues to support Exercise Amalgam Dart 21-01, which began June 10 and will run through Friday, June 18.  This exercise features flying, maintenance, planning and operational skill sets in operations ranging across the Arctic from the Beaufort Sea to Thule, Greenland.

"NORAD and United States Northern Command are separate commands, yet work seamlessly to accomplish the critical mission of defending North America against all threats, whether posed by our competitors, natural disasters, or a pandemic," said Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander, U.S. NORTHCOM and NORAD.

This air defense exercise provides the opportunity for U.S. and Canadian forces to operate together with allies and partners in the Arctic.  A bi-national Canadian and American command, NORAD employs a network of space-based, aerial and ground-based sensors, air-to-air refueling tankers, and fighter aircraft, controlled by a sophisticated command and control network to deter, deny and defeat aerospace threats that originate outside or within our borders.

“NORAD Exercise AMALGAM DART 21-1 affords Canadian, U.S. and allied forces a venue to demonstrate our capabilities to conduct the full array of homeland defense operations in the Arctic, including aircraft maintenance, testing new refueling capabilities on the ground, and air superiority operations using NORAD jet fighters, air refueling and command and control aircraft,” said Maj. Gen. Derek Joyce,  Deputy Commander of Continental U.S. NORAD Region at Tyndall AFB, Fla. 

NORAD and its Regions routinely conduct exercises using a variety of scenarios including homeland defense, airspace restriction violations, hijackings, and responses to unknown aircraft. NORAD carefully plans and closely controls all exercises. This air defense exercise provided NORAD the opportunity to hone skills as Canadian and U.S. forces operate together with their allies and partners in the Arctic.

For more than 60 years, NORAD has identified and intercepted potential air threats to North America through the execution of the command’s aerospace warning and aerospace control missions. NORAD also keeps watch over Canadian and U.S. internal waterways and maritime approaches under its maritime warning mission.