NORAD readies for Arctic air defense exercises

March 17 (UPI) -- Amalgam Dart, an Arctic air defense exercise, begins over Canada next week, the North American Aerospace Defense Command announced on Wednesday.

The regular exercise, involving U.S. and Canadian forces, will be conducted from March 20-26, and offers "a peacetime-to-wartime simulation intended to exercise aerospace warning and control capabilities," a statement by the Royal Canadian Air Force said.

Six air forces bases, five across Canada and one in Greenland, will be involved.

A NORAD statement on Wednesday noted that the exercise will be at high altitude and over sparsely populated areas, and emphasized that risk mitigation procedures will be followed to reduce spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Bases at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory; Yellowknife, Northwest Territory; Edmonton, Alberta; and Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Iqaluit, Nunavut, and Thule in Greenland will participate.

"NORAD routinely conducts exercises using a variety of scenarios including airspace restriction violations, hijackings, and responses to unknown aircraft," the statement added. "NORAD carefully plans and closely controls all exercises.

"This air defense exercise provides us the opportunity to hone our skills as Canadian and U.S. forces operate together with our allies and partners in the Arctic," NORAD officials said.

In 2020, NORAD intercepted Russian military aircraft several times before the planes entered U.S. and Canadian airspace.

"Our northern approaches have had an increase in foreign military activity as our competitors continue to expand their military presence and probe our defenses," Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, NORAD commander, said in a statement in August 2020, emphasizing why the exercises are necessary.

"This year, we've conducted more than a dozen intercepts, the most in recent years. The importance of our continued efforts to project air defense operations in and through the north has never been more apparent," VanHerck said at the time.