National Defence committee  It was in line with the level of activity and the type of activity that we have seen since August 2007.

National Defence committee  There is a process to filing flight plans to proceed into international airspace. The same process is followed by both military and civilian.... Although it is not our mandate to do so, from a safety perspective, as I said in my opening comments, it would be good for everybody, all the operators, civilian and military, that could be in that area at the same time, to have that visibility.

National Defence committee  There were only three cases we can trace with these types of airplanes where the Russians filed a flight plan. There was one not too long ago where they transited two Blackjack bombers from Russia to Venezuela for an exercise, which was publicized at the time. There was a flight near Iceland by the Russians.

National Defence committee  When the agreement was redrafted and signed, in 2006, the two countries elected to put the maritime warning component in the NORAD mission, basically leveraging the command and control capability and the passage of information, which was very mature within the NORAD organization after some 47 to 48 years.

National Defence committee  There's a difference between getting the mandate and then putting in the procedures, the protocols, and the concept of operations to apply that mandate. This is fairly recent. It's a work in progress. I cannot comment on the presence of submarines. I think other witnesses here have commented.

National Defence committee  Sir, I travel so often that I would have to check my day planner to see if I was there that day. I was aware of the situation and kept up-to-date. It is not uncommon for me to be away when such things occur; I travel a great deal. I can simply say that NORAD's aircraft detection systems functioned properly that day.

National Defence committee  They took off from one of our forward-operating bases in the Arctic. There are four such bases: Inuvik, Rankin Inlet, Yellowknife and Iqaluit, from west to east. In this case, the aircraft took off from the Inuvik base.

National Defence committee  No, let me clarify that. I can understand there being some confusion. Detection was done before the aircraft arrived in the identification zone. During the time it took the F-18s to fly to... The aircraft entered the CADIZ, but they had already been detected, and the F-18s had already taken off.

National Defence committee  I can only hypothesize because I have never had the opportunity to board a Bear aircraft. Based on the international standards maintained by leading-armed forces, of which I consider the Russian air force to be a member, I would not be surprised that they have all the modern navigational systems, including GPS.

National Defence committee  I will not disclose those details, because they are of a tactical nature.

National Defence committee  That is classified information.

National Defence committee  No. The Russian bombers entered the identification zone. That is not a binding mandate. However, we would appreciate receiving their flight plans, something they have not chosen to disclose to us up until now. They simply entered the identification zone, the CADIZ. They did not enter into our airspace.

National Defence committee  Everything originates from NORAD and goes through Winnipeg. Under the region's command, you have the tactical control centre, the Canadian Air Defence Sector, which is located in North Bay, Ontario. The tactical intercept managers are in direct communication with the fighters and deal with in-flight fuel needs, if need be, depending on the duration of a mission.

National Defence committee  It's the entire organization. Ultimately, General Renuart is the supreme commander of the command.

National Defence committee  Yes, General Gene Renuart, who was recently in Ottawa. He is commander of NORAD. I work for him; I am one of his three regional commanders. This type of mission is coordinated through NORAD by the region, from the sector to the aircraft.