ALASKA-This years version of Exercise Vigilant Eagle took place over the skies of Alaska this week. The Russian Air Force and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) conducted their second Vigilant Eagle cooperative exercise Aug 5-9.

These exercises are designed to further strengthen the communication channels between Russia and NORAD in the event of a hijacked aircraft transiting across the Bering Sea.

Sunday’s drill began with a simulated American airliner flying over our airspace towards Russian airspace and not responding to ground control. In that scenario, no one on the ground had any idea what was happening aboard the jet. A series of exchanges between Russia and NORAD military took place as jets and air surveillance intercepted and fully engaged the airliner, turning it back to Alaska.

On Monday a similar scenario was played out, this time the airliner originated from Russian airspace. It too was repelled and sent back to its country’s airspace, escorted by warplanes.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Uriah Orland stated, “Both days went off pretty much flawlessly,” saying of the Russian, U.S. and Canadian participants, “We had good connectivity.”

Also speaking of communication obstacles encountered last year compared to this year, Orland said, “This being the second year, it’s really allowed us to kind of resolve a lot of the issues we’ve had with that by having good translators and really working through the protocols of what information is passed,” Orland explained. “Both sides know what to expect and how to expect it. So that’s really helped with that communication piece.”