NORAD to hold air defence exercise near Iqaluit
Fighter jets and air tanker expected at Iqaluit’s airport Thursday
Northern airport runways are at risk due to melting permafrost, a recently released Senate committee report finds. (File photo)
The North American Aerospace Defence Command will hold an air defence training exercise in the skies above Nunavut on Thursday.
The exercise will give NORAD’s aircrews an opportunity to hone skills needed to operate in the Arctic, according to a news release from the command.
The public isn’t likely to see or hear the exercises, which NORAD says are slated to occur over “sparsely populated Arctic areas,” but the operation will bring increased air traffic to the Iqaluit airport, including CF-18 fighter jets and a CC-150T Polaris air tanker.
Although aircraft are expected to be serviced in Iqaluit, no military personnel from the exercise will remain there.
“Aircrews will remain with their aircraft while at the airport for refuelling prior to departing,” states the release.
To lessen the potential risk of exposure to COVID-19, NORAD has also implemented other measures such as regular hand sanitization, physical distancing and the wearing of face masks in situations where physical distancing is not possible.
The release also assures Nunavut residents that “this exercise is in no way related to the Government of Canada or United States’ response to COVID-19.”
It is profoundly embarrassing that they have to assuage the general publics eagerness to be duped by conspiracy theories.
Was this exercise for the sake of a media headline? I saw only one F-18 come and go.