U.S.
NORAD plans air defense exercise in National Capital Region early Wednesday
Stars and Stripes
November 18, 2025
An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., on Oct. 27, 2025. (Halley Clark/U.S. Air Force)
NORAD will conduct an air defense exercise in the Washington, D.C., region in the overnight hours on Wednesday.
The live-fly Exercise FALCON will be active between midnight and 2 a.m. ET and will include F-16 fighter aircraft; a U.S. Coast Guard MH-65D Dolphin helicopter; a U.S. Army UH-60 helicopter; U.S. Navy King Air aircraft; and Civil Air Patrol C-182 aircraft, according to a North American Aerospace Defense Command news release.
The planes could, at times, fly as low as 1,000 feet and be visible from the ground.
If there is inclement weather, the exercise will be rescheduled to Thursday at the same time.
NORAD’s mission since inception is for its aircraft to identify and intercept potential air threats to North America, in the execution of its aerospace warning and aerospace control missions, and maintain a watchful eye over Canadian and U.S. internal waterways and maritime approaches under its maritime warning mission.