Fighter aircraft will be flying over British Columbia's coast and Washington State as part of a planned air defence exercise.
The announcement came Wednesday morning from the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), the same day the exercise is taking place.
"A variety of American and Canadian NORAD aircraft, including fighter aircraft, will operate at high altitude,” states a spokesperson in a statement.
The exercise is to test responses, systems and equipment. The spokesperson says the exercise is in no way related to recent NORAD and U.S. Northern Command operations associated with airborne objects over North America during the last two weeks.
NORAD routinely conducts air defence exercises using a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft.
"All NORAD exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled,” says the spokesperson.
Over the past 60 years, NORAD aircraft have worked to identify threats to North America through aerospace warning and aerospace control missions.
If you happen to see the NOARD air defence exercise, send your photographs and videos to Glacier Media reporter Alanna Kelly. Email [email protected].
