NORAD
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a bi-national U.S.-Canadian military command responsible for aerospace warning, aerospace control, and maritime warning for North America. NORAD shares leadership with usnorthcom.
Relevance to UAP
- The FY2026 NDAA mandates aaro brief Congress on all UAP intercept operations conducted by NORAD and usnorthcom since 2004
- Briefings must include the number, location, and nature of intercepts; procedural details; and all collected data
- The requirement reflects congressional concern about unexplained aerial incursions near sensitive military installations and airspace across North America (2023-2025)
See src-uap-ndaa-fy2026-intercept-provisions for full legislative details.
2026 Posture Testimony
Per src-northcom-drone-incursion-2026-03, dual-hatted NORAD/USNORTHCOM commander Gen. Gregory Guillot disclosed the first operational defeat of a drone over a “strategic” U.S. installation during operation-epic-fury, using a Flyaway Kit certified at minot-afb in October 2025. Guillot credited Ukraine lessons — notably operation-spider-web — for the doctrine of layered, multi-medium drone defeat.
Radar gap
In the March 2025 CBS 60 Minutes report, Guillot and his predecessor glen-vanherck publicly acknowledged that NORAD’s Cold War-era radars are designed for high-altitude threats and cannot reliably detect low-flying drones. VanHerck warned the December 2023 Langley swarm “could have a foreign nexus” and rejected the “hobbyist” framing.
See also: usnorthcom, aaro, ndaa-uap-provisions, uap-disclosure, gregory-guillot, glen-vanherck, flyaway-kit, drone-incursions, langley-afb