Evidence of meeting #11 for National Defence in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was aircraft.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
I don't know whether they call it a CADIZ. There is something equivalent to it.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC
During deployments or exercises, does Canada ever enter into that zone?
4:25 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
All I can tell you, as regional commander for NORAD, is that our planes do not do to Russia what—
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC
Okay. Were we to enter their airspace, would we give notice?
4:25 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
When we operate outside our zones, our experts file the necessary flight plans for all our aircraft abroad.
April 1st, 2009 / 4:25 p.m.
Bloc
Pascal-Pierre Paillé Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
Thank you very much for being here.
I will be touching on the same subject. Do you have any information as to whether the Russians similarly intrude on or pass through other Nordic countries?
4:25 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
Yes. In fact it is in the public domain. There have been instances in Norway, Denmark, Great Britain and Japan. This is essentially the same type of activity that occurred during the Soviet Union's existence.
4:25 p.m.
Bloc
Pascal-Pierre Paillé Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
Okay. You said earlier that there are four bases in the North where there are fighter planes. Are they CF-18s? Are there also American planes at these bases?
4:25 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
They are CF-18s. These are deployment bases. These aircraft are available if needed. This is called forward deploy. We are prepositioned on these bases. There are no American planes on these bases, only CF-18s, as well as tanker aircraft to support operations.
These are, therefore, deployment bases for Canadian aircraft.
4:25 p.m.
Bloc
Pascal-Pierre Paillé Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
For example, when NORAD is notified that an aircraft has entered the CADIZ, presumably because of its equipment and satellites, it then notifies one of these deployment bases, in accordance with procedure, and gives the directive or order for these planes to take off. Is that correct?
4:25 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
That's correct.
4:25 p.m.
Bloc
Pascal-Pierre Paillé Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
In the process, are the Americans informed by NORAD of such an intrusion?
4:30 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
Absolutely. Since it is a bi-national command, everyone is aware of what is happening, be it NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs, the operation centre in Alaska, my equivalent, or the continental States in Tyndall, Florida. Everyone within the command is aware of what is happening, thanks to our communications networks, the information exchange networks, computers and all systems available to NORAD.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Pascal-Pierre Paillé Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
Do the United States have deployment bases like ours, in Alaska, for example?
4:30 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
The United States have a permanent base in Alaska.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Pascal-Pierre Paillé Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
With regard to the February 10 situation, it was normal for the Americans not to deploy an aircraft. It was to some extent the responsibility of the CF-18s to intercept those planes.
4:30 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
The aircraft entered the Canadian Air Defence Identification Zone, the CADIZ, and were approaching our territorial waters. Once they veered off, they headed towards the American identification zone. That was when fighter aircraft in Alaska took over.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Pascal-Pierre Paillé Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
Did the United Stated deploy their aircraft after the Russian planes had altered their course?
4:30 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
Based on our experience with such flights, to some extent we were expecting these aircraft, once they exited our identification zone, to head off probably in the direction of the ADIZ. So resources were in place.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Pascal-Pierre Paillé Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
I'd like to ask you one final question.
Speaking about Arctic sovereignty, is the CADIZ recognized by the Russians? Do they recognize the same zone or is there a grey zone? There is the issue of the nautical miles, of a certain distance. We have indicated approximately where we draw the line, but have the Russians drawn a similar line?
4:30 p.m.
Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian NORAD Region, Department of National Defence
I don't know the details about their equivalent. Perhaps they don't call it a CADIZ.
A number of countries, including Russia, England, Japan and the Nordic countries, have set up something similar. The goal is simple: it's to have a better warning system. If we wait until the aircraft reach the 12-mile limit, it's too late. So it's quite simply a way to ensure a better warning system.
