JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) will conduct air defense exercise Felix Hawk over Los Angeles on Monday, Nov. 26.

This exercise comprises a series of training flights coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration, Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region (CONR) and U.S. Air Force F-16, and C-21 aircraft.

Exercise Felix Hawk is designed to test WAD’s intercept and identification procedures for a variety of scenarios involving potentially hostile aircraft. Residents in the Los Angeles area may see F-16 fighters and C-21 aircraft interacting during exercise between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. PST when flights are scheduled to occur.

In the event of inclement weather, the exercise will be canceled.

These exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled to ensure WADS’s rapid response capability. WADS has conducted exercise flights of this nature Advertisement

[ Pala Mesa Resort ] throughout the western region since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the NORAD’s response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

WADS and its eastern counterpart - Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) in Rome, N.Y., are part of the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region (CONR). CONR, as the continental United States (CONUS) geographical component of the bi-national command NORAD, provides airspace surveillance and control, and directs air sovereignty activities for the CONUS region. CONR and its assigned Air Force assets throughout the country ensure air safety and security against potential air threats.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD fighters have responded to more than 2,100 possible air threats in the United States, Canada and Alaska, and have flown more than 42,000 sorties with the support of Airborne Warning and Control System and air-to-air-refueling aircraft.