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NORAD has a rich history, having defended the skies over the United States and Canada for nearly five decades as of 2001. This military organization plays a critical role in airspace security, employing a range of defense tactics and exercises to ensure the safety of North American airspace.
Pre-9/11 Exercises
According to a report from USA Today, in the two years leading up to the 9/11 attacks, NORAD conducted extensive training exercises that surprisingly included scenarios involving hijacked airliners as weapons. Notably, one of these mock scenarios focused directly on the World Trade Center, emphasizing a level of foresight that contrasts sharply with the overall narrative of unpreparedness that followed the attacks.