North American Air Defense Command

A joint U.S.-Canada organization, the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) is responsible for the aerospace defense of North America. It was formed during the chilliest days of the Cold War, when the main Soviet threat would be coming across the Arctic; the geometry meant that the forward early warning systems needed primarily to be in Canada, and that whether or not a bomber was threatening Vancouver or Seattle, the first line of defense would be in Canadian airspace. When the threats and technologies of the day made area and point defense, using surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery, NORAD coordinated their efforts and fed intelligence to them. Essentially, NORAD ran the integrated air defense system (IADS) for North America.

The commanding officer of NORAD is a U.S. general or admiral who is also the head of United States Northern Command. The deputy commander is a Canadian flag officer.

With the advent of submarine-launched cruise and ballistic missiles, the alliance extended along the coasts as well as far north, with maritime patrol aircraft, of both the U.S. and Canada, flying from Newfoundland and Alaska.

After bomber attack on the interior of the both countries became much less likely, IADS facilities not on the coasts or northern frontier were cut back, saving funds. Had the 9-11 attacks taken place decades earlier, there would have been interior radars, fighters, and antiaircraft weapons to intervene over internal regionss, but the available fighters had to fly inland, from bases far from the eventual targets.

NORAD does have a significant role in space surveillance to the benefit of both countries. Nevertheless, its key mission was Cold War defense, and, from the U.S. perspective, merging it with Northern Command, which is responsible for the overall defense of the United States mainland, made sense. NORAD also assists in detecting drug and other smuggling, feeding information to law enforcement.

Every December, NORAD enjoys sending out tracking reports on an unusual airborne target, using reindeer as power sources and a jolly fellow in a red suit as mission commander. Their reports are now on a website.