Air sovereignty
Air sovereigntyis the fundamental right of asovereign stateto regulate the use of itsairspaceand enforce its ownaviation law–in extremisby the use offighter aircraft.
The upper limit of national airspace is not defined by international law.
NATO air policing
[edit]As part of the principle of collective defence in peacetime, NATO members carry out air policing missions to protect the integrity of Allied airspace.[1]As part of the mission, aircraft are used in a Quick Reaction Air role to respond to both civilian and military aircraft in distress and any aircraft that approach allied airspace and fail to identify themselves, fail to communicate with Air Traffic Control or fail to file a flight plan.[1]
A number of NATO countries cannot sustain a force of quick reaction aircraft, so aircraft of other member states provide cover, such as in theBaltic AreaandIcelandic Area.In the Benelux area (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands), the Belgian and Dutch air forces provide the quick reaction aircraft in turns of four months each.[2]
Switzerland
[edit]TheSwiss Air Forceprovides aircraft and systems to protect the sovereignty of Swiss airspace,[3]it also covers Liechtenstein airspace.
United States
[edit]TheU.S. Supreme Courtin 1946ruled that private property owners have exclusive rightsto the airspace above their land, up to an altitude of 365 feet.[4]
In the United States, the air sovereignty mission had been renamed "Air Sovereignty Alert", but in 2011 it was renamed "Aerospace Control Alert." The majority of the aerospace control alert missions in the U.S. are carried out by theAir National Guardby units flying, at present time, theF-15 EagleandF-16 Fighting Falconjets.[5][6][7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ab "NATO Air Policing".
- ^ "Belgium, Netherlands to take turns in policing BENELUX airspace".
- ^ "Air Force".vtg.admin.ch.Switzerland.[permanent dead link]
- ^ See wikipedia articleUnited States v. Causbyon the 1946U.S. Supreme Courtruling328 U.S. 256, pp 266–267.
- ^ "Air sovereignty alert: America's security blanket".
- ^ "New name, same mission".Air Force Magazine.3 October 2011.
- ^ "Adm. James Winnefeld, the new NORAD and NORTHCOM Boss, closely monitors what's needed to defend North America".Air Force Magazine.December 2010.
External links
[edit]- British Air sovereignty(video/documentary).Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-15 – via YouTube.
- about Swiss Air sovereignty(video clip).Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-15 – via YouTube.
- French Air sovereignty(video/documentary) (in French). Archived fromthe originalon 2018-10-07 – via YouTube.
