NATO Exercise Patriot Shock V:Air Defence Artillery Test at Short Notice

NATO Exercise Patriot Shock V is underway in both Romania and Poland,involving 200 troops from the US,Romania,Poland and Sweden.The drills,running from 5-10 November 2016,are a Deployment Readiness Exercise in conjunction with a multinational air defence exercise,said the 10th Army Artillery and Missile Defense Command.
As part of the exercise,the Soldiers of Delta Battery,5th Battalion,7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment,were in Romania in less than 72 hours of the notice of their deployment to a location near Camp Midia,Romania.Speed of assembly and speed of achieving interoperability with their Romanian Allies were key to the challenge they were presented with.Indeed,a Patriot missile battery had never been deployed to Romania before.The drills will validate the unit's readiness and demonstrate US Army Europe's rapid deployment capability.They will showcase the unit's leaders' and Soldiers' resilience and build their confidence in the capabilities of their mobility platforms and mission command systems while demonstrating US commitment to Allies and partners in the Black Sea region.*
Patriot Shock is also taking place in Skwierzyna,Poland,where the W 125 launcher SC Anti-missile syetem and Newa missile were deployed by the Polish army's 35th Air Defence Squadron.Participants obtained the ability to plan,prepare and execute joint and combined training in a real time,realistic setting.The exercise increases the proficiency in defending against aerial threats,while improving the integration and interoperability between US and Polish personnel and systems.It demonstrates NATO's ability to move forces quickly and freely across allied borders and maintain freedom of movement across the region.*
Also deployed by Poland was the 23mm anti-aircraft weapon system.This built fires interoperability between the US and Poland Air Defense Artillery community,making a stronger Alliance while demonstrating the participating nations' ability to deploy troops rapidly.Troops from Poland and Sweden are synchronising and integrating their air defence systems with US Soldiers,which would be critical in any multinational contingency operations,the US Army points out.

Defending D.C.:NORAD Announces Overnight Exercise

NORAD,the North American Aerospace Defense Command,and its geographical component,CONR,the Continental US NORAD Region,will be holding training flights over the Washington,D.C. area overnight Tuesday into Wednesday from 12 am until 2 am,in support of Operation Noble Eagle,the air defence operation instituted following 9-11.Such exercises are held periodically to hone NORAD's intercept and identification operations and operationally test the National Capital Region Visual Warning System and train Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC) personnel;they also ensure CONR's rapid response capability.Besides the US Air Force,the drills will include the US Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter;Civil Air Patrol aircraft;and the participation of the FAA and the National Capital Region Command Center.The Coast Guard conducts armed helicopter overwatch as part of its counterterrorism mission.*
CONR is based at Tyndall Air Force Base,Florda,and directs both the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state and the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) based in Rome,New York.CONR's principal weapons systems are the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon provided by the 10 Air National Guard fighter wings of First Air Force.CONR's assets also include the US Army 2nd Battalion 263rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington,D.C.,where the JADOC is also located.Typically a number of Canadian Forces personnel are detailed to CONR as well.*
Since 9-11,CONR's fighter aircraft have responded to more than 5,000 possible air threats in the US and flown more than 62,500 sorties supported by Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) and air to air refueling aircraft.
EADS counters all threats with vigilant detection,rapid warning and precise tactical control of NORAD and NORTHCOM forces,with its vision being to detect and defeat the next air attack on America.*
The highly integrated air defence system of NORAD allows us to identify,track,and if necessary,engage both external and internal aerospace threats,said NORAD and US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) Commander Admiral William Gortney,US Navy.NORAD adds aerospace warning,aerospace control and worldwide maritime warning in the defence of North America.NORAD's Deputy Commander and Commander,Canadian Element is Lieutenant-General Pierre St.-Amand,CMM,CD.