North American Aerospace Defense

Command (NORAD) Best Aerospace

Command in the world

INTRODUCTION
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a combined
organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace
warning, air sovereignty, and defense for North America.

Headquarters for NORAD and the NORAD/USNORTHCOM (U.S.

Northern Command) center are located at Peterson Air Force Base in
El Paso County, near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The nearby Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker has the Alternative

Command Center.

The NORAD commander and deputy commander (CINCNORAD) are,

respectively, a U.S. four-star General or equivalent and a Canadian
three-star general or equivalent.

HISTORY
NORAD (originally known as the North American Air Defense Command), was

recommended by the Joint Canadian-U.S. Military Group in late 1956, approved by

the United States JCS in February 1957, and announced on 1 August 1957;the
"establishment of [NORAD] command headquarters" was on 12 September 1957,
at Ent Air Force Base's 1954 blockhouse.

The 1958 international agreement designated the NORAD commander always be a

US officer (Canadian vice commander), and "RCAF officersagreed the command's
primary purpose would beearly warning and defense for SAC's retaliatory forces.

":252 In late 1958, Canada and the U.S. started the Continental Air Defense

Integration North (CADIN) for the SAGE air defense network:253 (initial CADIN cost
sharing agreement between the countries was on 5 January 1959), and two
December 1958 plans submitted by NORAD had "average yearly expenditure of
around five and one half billions", including "cost of the accelerated Nike Zeus
program" and 3 BMEWS sites.

POST COLD WAR

In 1989 NORAD operations expanded to cover counter-drug operations,
e.g., tracking of small aircraft entering and operating within the US and
Canada.

DEW line sites were replaced between 1986 and 1995 by the North
Warning System.

The Cheyenne Mountain site was also upgraded but none of the proposed
OTH-B radars are currently in operation.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the NORAD Air Warning Center's
mission "expanded to include the interior airspace of North America."

The Cheyenne Mountain Realignment was announced on 28 July 2006, to

consolidate NORAD's day-to-day operations at Peterson Air Force Base with
Cheyenne Mountain in "warm standby" staffed with support personnel.

AGREEMENT
The

common defense of the North American continent traces its history back to 1940 when
Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt met to discuss the
war in Europe and mutual defense concerns.

In September 1957, the two nations agreed

to create the North American Air Defense Command

(NORAD) headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo. as a bi-national command, centralizing
operational control of continental air defenses against the threat of Soviet bombers. On May 12,
1958, the agreement between the Canadian and U.S. governments that established NORAD was
formalized.

The agreement included 11 principles governing the organization and operation of NORAD and
called for a renewal of the agreement in 10 years.

The March 1996 renewal redefined NORADs missions as aerospace warning and aerospace control
for North America.

The

new agreement included a consultative mechanism for issues concerning aerospace defense
cooperation and, a provision for the review and management of environmental practices related to
NORAD operations.

The May 2006 renewal added a maritime warning mission to the command's existing missions.
The on-going adaptation of NORADs mission and capabilities to meet the challenges posed

by
ever-changing threats testifies to the strength of the NORAD Agreement and the close cooperation
between Canada and the United States.

REFERENCES
http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Aerospace_Defense_Comma
nd

http://www.norad.mil/AboutNORAD/NORADAgreement.aspx
http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/norad-13.jpg
http://www.faqs.org/espionage/images/eeis_02_img0759.jpg
http://
www.darkgovernment.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/noradcontrol-center-2.jpg

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