180th Fighter Wing made a mighty roar Wednesday afternoon

Credit: Chris Stewart

Credit: Chris Stewart

If you heard the sound of jets in the Dayton and Springfield areas Wednesday there’s an excellent reason.

Alert fighter jets from the 180th Fighter Wing conducted a test of the Aerospace Control Alert system between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Those living in and around the Delaware and Middletown areas (and beyond) may have heard or seen fighter jets in close proximity to a Civil Air Patrol aircraft, which took on the role of a Track of Interest (TOI), the wing said in a statement. A TOI is an aircraft that has been identified as a potential threat, for purposes of an exercise.

The purpose of the event is to exercise coordination between the Eastern Air Defense Sector, Federal Aviation Administration and the Lucas County-based 180th Fighter Wing.

Aerospace control includes maintaining air sovereignty and air defense through the surveillance and control of airspace over Canada and the U.S.

These types of exercises are conducted on a routine basis as part of North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Operation Noble Eagle, which was initiated after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

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