North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)

What we do

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a bi-national military organization established in 1958 by Canada and the United States. We monitor and defend North America through aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning.

The commander of NORAD is appointed by and is responsible to both the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States. Traditionally, NORAD commanders are U.S. generals and deputy commanders are Canadian lieutenant-generals.

Specific roles

NORAD warns of threats to the continent by monitoring and tracking man-made objects (such as aircraft and ships) in North American airspace and waters. NORAD also provides surveillance and operational control of Canadian and U.S. airspace.

The NORAD Command Centre operates a worldwide system of sensors to accomplish these critically important missions.

The three NORAD regions are:

• The Alaskan NORAD Region (ANR) conducts continuous surveillance and control of Alaskan airspace and is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
• The Canadian NORAD Region (CANR) identifies and tracks all aircraft entering Canadian airspace and exercises operational command and control of all air defence forces in Canada. It is headquartered with the 1 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
• The Continental U.S. NORAD Region (CONR) executes the NORAD air sovereignty mission for the continental United States and is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.