NORAD exercise planned for Washington, D.C.: Falcon Virgo 15-08

The North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct training exercises over Washington, D.C., Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

The training, which began in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, test NORAD’s rapid response capability.

“Falcon Virgo 15-08” training flights will take place between midnight and 2 a.m. local time, NORAD said in a press release on Tuesday. The maneuvers will be coordinated between NORAD, its geographical component known as the Continental United States NORAD Region (CONR), the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region (NCR) Coordination Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC), Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard and CONR’s Eastern Air Defense Sector.

There have been roughly 5,000 possible air threats identified in U.S. airspace since 2001, NORAD said in its statement.