Canada, U.S. to hold joint military exercise

Canada will lead a joint military exercise in the country's North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) region from May 25 to June 1, which will involve Canadian and United States military personnel and aircraft, according to the Canadian National Defense Ministry on Monday.

"Canada remains an active partner in securing North American airspace. We proudly contribute to the only bi-national military organization in the world, NORAD," Canadian National Defense Minister Jason Kenney said in a communique.

"Exercises like AMALGAM DART demonstrate both our countries' commitment to meeting our common national security goals in vital regions of our continent such as the North and High Arctic," Kenney said.

The game, coded Exercise AMALGAM DART, will involve approximately 300 military personnel and 15 aircraft, staging air operations from Alaska and Canada's Northwest Territories and Nunavut to confirm integration procedures of NORAD's bi-national force.

The NORAD is a bi-national command formed by a partnership between Canada and the United States. It provides maritime warning, aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America.

Exercise AMALGAM DART provides valuable field training involving multiple NORAD regions and allows NORAD to maintain a credible, flexible and ready capability to respond to a variety of threats and situations.

Exercise AMALGAM DART aims to deploy aerospace detection assets to the northern limit of its area of responsibility and maintain the highest level of readiness of its bi-national force. Endi