The tracking and shooting down of unauthorized flying objects over North America is part of joint work between Canada and the U.S., hence who pulls the trigger is not important, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Feb. 13 while visiting Yukon.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a joint command, Trudeau said, “which means we do things together over North America.”
Canadian and American fighter jets were scrambled on Feb. 11 to intercept an unauthorized and unidentified flying object over the territory in northwestern Canada.
“It was a very much based on the context and the situations of who was there, who had the capacity to do it before we lost the object into darkness or into situations,” Trudeau said.
He added the focus was not on who would get credit for the take down, but rather on achieving the outcome.
The prime minister said the wreckage area to be searched by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is between Dawson City, 100km east of the Alaska border, and Mayo. The two towns are 230km apart by way of Highway 2.
Trudeau said a lot of CAF resources were being deployed to the area, but that as time goes by different instructions could be passed to local outfitters and trappers.
The prime minister has insisted on the joint nature of continental defence, but in reality there would be a very low likelihood of reciprocity where Canadian jets would be taking down targets in U.S. airspace.
The Conservative opposition has raised concerns about the U.S. involvement.
Nature of Objects
The nature of what was shot down is also the subject of speculation and comes in the context of similar incidents occurring over the past few days.This time authorities had no such qualms and took down the flying object, but have released few details about what it is. They have mostly not referred to it as a balloon nor have they called it an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
No information has been provided on which country or entity could be behind the flying objects.
“We’re calling them objects for a reason,” said VanHerck. “I am not able to categorize how they stay aloft. It could be a gaseous type of balloon inside a structure or it could be some type of a propulsion system. But clearly, they’re able to stay aloft.”
Trudeau says there have been significant diplomatic and international engagements on the issue and expressed concerns over the trend.
“Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there, the fact that we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention,” he said.
“There is much analysis going on at the highest levels of NORAD in both Canada and the United States to try and understand more.”
