No, the United States is not scrapping NORAD, but the government still wants Canada to buy American jets for the common defense of both countries, the State Department said on Wednesday.
The product of a Cold War-era agreement between the United States and Canada, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, usually makes headlines when children across North America follow its Santa tracker on Christmas, but President Trump’s administration recently put it on the map for a different reason.
As Mr. Trump talked up the need for a stronger Arctic defense as part of a recent push to acquire Greenland, NORAD’s capability to protect airspace came into the administration’s focus this week — at the same time as tariff tensions resurfaced.
That’s because the U.S. ambassador to Canada dropped what seemed like a bombshell: There could be a change to the U.S.-Canada pact.
In comments to the Canadian public broadcaster CBC News, published on Monday, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said that if Canada did not purchase American-made F-35 fighter jets, made by Lockheed Martin, “NORAD would have to be altered” and that the United States may have to fly into Canadian airspace to fill defense gaps.
The statement stirred fears about what it could mean for the decades-long pact.
But Mr. Hoekstra was talking about logistical hurdles and equipment, not the agreement itself, the State Department clarified in a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday.
“Ambassador Hoekstra’s comments were taken out of context to create headlines rather than to objectively portray his comments about the role that NORAD and the F-35 play in protecting the North America,” a State Department spokesperson said.
Still, for many people who have checked the NORAD Santa Claus tracker, or who have heard about NORAD jets intercepting and shooting down small balloons, the increased attention will raise some basic questions.
What is NORAD?
The North American Aerospace Defense Command is a defense organization operated jointly by the United States and Canada.
Most people recognize it for tracing Santa’s fantastical global journey, as it has done for more than six decades. But the organization’s deeper work hums in the background of everyday life, as it tracks air and maritime threats that might be coming toward North America.
NORAD functions as both a warning system and an aerospace shield, acting as the frontline of defense for both Canada and the United States, said Andrea Charron, a professor at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg who is also the director of the Center for Defense and Security Studies there.
“The fact that NORAD exists is a deterrent to adversaries,” she said.
NORAD’s stated purpose is to “prevent air attacks against North America, safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces, and provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America.”
A Cold War creation, NORAD was established in 1958 when the prospect of Soviet missiles and bombers crossing the Arctic was considered the gravest threat to North America.
NORAD is also responsible for surveying the skies during major events, such as the Super Bowl and the World Cup, and it establishes no-fly zones, for example, wherever the U.S. president travels within North America, Professor Charron said.
Who runs it?
NORAD is led by a commander — currently Gen. Gregory M. Guillot of the U.S. Air Force — who reports to both the U.S. president and the Canadian prime minister. The leaders of both countries have the authority to issue an order to NORAD.
The deputy commander is Lt. Gen. Iain Huddleston, a senior Royal Canadian Air Force officer.
What’s happening with the pact?
Apparently, nothing.
While Mr. Hoekstra’s comments spurred headlines and raised concerns, it was not immediately clear what he meant by “altered.”
The State Department clarified on Wednesday that Mr. Hoekstra was not referring to a change to the pact that governs NORAD.
His comments, the State Department said, referred to the modernization of NORAD, of which the F-35 jets were a “key planned part.”
“If Canada decided to significantly reduce its investment in the F-35, that would create a significant gap in the defense structure of North America,” the State Department said. “Filling that gap is not news, it is common sense.”
Why does it matter?
NORAD is crucial to the defense of both the United States and Canada; as such, the lofty goal of modernizing its capabilities is of key interest to both countries. In 2022, Canada announced it would spend nearly 5 billion Canadian dollars over the following six years upgrading its defense systems.
Canada began a review of its fighter jet deal with the United States after Mr. Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian imports last year. The review will assess whether the new fleet remains compatible with Canada’s military needs and the protection of its sovereignty “in light of evolving geopolitics,” according to Canada’s defense department.
The F-35 jet is a “flying supercomputer,” said Tom Karako, the director of the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and even more key, it offers interoperability and interchangeability among allies that use it.
“It’s the fact that U.S. and Canadian F-35s and U.S. and NATO F-35s operating together are going to do so far more smoothly and seamlessly than trying to connect with some other aircraft,” Mr. Karako said.
Professor Charron said NORAD “works beautifully because it is binational and therefore needs the agreement of both before changes are made.”
”NORAD is so part and parcel of how we defend Canada and the United States,” she said. “I really couldn’t imagine what we would do without it.”
Aimee Ortiz covers breaking news and other topics.
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