Operation NOBLE DEFENDER:Defending North America's Approaches - intercepting cruise missiles

From 12-14 September 2022,Operation NOBLE DEFENDER (OND) was executed by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in Alaska and the Northwest Territories.Mainly carried out over sparsely populated Arctic and Pacific areas at high altitude,there was little chance of the public noticing the drills.Areas traversed include Inuvik,Yellowknife,St.Lawrence Island,King Salmon,Ketchikan and west of Vancouver.OND was intended to validate NORAD'S ability to defend Canada and the US from every avenue of approach,demonstrating the capability to integrate with defence and security partners for a holistic,360-degree defence of the continent.* OND,a recurring series of drills,tested the ability to rapidly deploy military assets and carry out tactics,techniques and procedures in the designated areas.It demonstrated NORAD'S ability to quickly deter,defend and,if necessary,defeat adversaries of North America such as Russia,China and North Korea.Defensive manoeuvres were practised along the Northern and Western approaches to North America by all three NORAD Regions:Alaska NORAD Region (ANR);Canadian NORAD Region (CANR);and Continental U.S. NORAD Region (CONR).OND drew on military personnel and equipment support from Portland,Oregon;Cold Lake,Alberta;Colorado Springs,Colorado;Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Eielson Air Force Base,Alaska.* On 14 September,US Air Force F-15C Eagle fighters from the Oregon Air National Guard's 142d Wing took off from Portland ANG Base.There the operation exhibited the ability to launch at short notice from dispersed air and maritime locations to defend Northern approaches in multiple regions across all domains,displaying resiliance in the face of multiple and complex threats.During the drills,CONR also coordinated and conducted joint operations with the US Navy while concurrently launching jets from various locations across the US Gulf Coast and Puerto Rico.This phase of OND featured manoeuvres for defending the Southern approach to the US from simulated cruise missile threats.F-15C Eagles took off from Muniz ANG Base in Carolina,Puerto Rico.The OND addressed both current and evolving threats to North American defence and security.* An F-15E Strike Eagle can actually launch a cruise missile,the AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER),from a center pylon.This type of launch was simulated over the highly strategic Baltic Sea Region in 2021.* To shoot down a cruise missile,you have to know the missile's course and speed so you can intercept and destroy it.A heat-seeking anti-aircraft missile can destroy a cruise missile.So can an aircraft's cannon.As long as an aircraft has look-down-shoot-down capability,it can destroy a cruise missile,but it is very difficult to execute such a mission against the terrain-following,low-IR emission cruise missiles.