Air sovereignty

Right of a state to control its own airspace

A USAF F-15 Eagle fighter after intercepting a Russian Tu-95 near the west coast of Alaska in 2006

Air sovereignty is the fundamental right of a sovereign state to regulate the use of its airspace and enforce its own aviation law – in extremis by the use of fighter aircraft.

The upper limit of national airspace is not defined by international law.

## NATO air policing

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As part of the principle of collective defence in peacetime, NATO members carry out air policing missions to protect the integrity of Allied airspace.[1] As part of the mission, aircraft are used in a Quick Reaction Air role to respond to both civilian and military aircraft in distress and any aircraft that approach allied airspace and fail to identify themselves, fail to communicate with Air Traffic Control or fail to file a flight plan.[1]

A number of NATO countries cannot sustain a force of quick reaction aircraft, so aircraft of other member states provide cover, such as in the Baltic Area and Icelandic Area. In the Benelux area (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands), the Belgian and Dutch air forces provide the quick reaction aircraft in turns of four months each.[2]

## Switzerland

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The Swiss Air Force provides aircraft and systems to protect the sovereignty of Swiss airspace,[3] it also covers Liechtenstein airspace.

## United States

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The U.S. Supreme Court in 1946 ruled that private property owners have exclusive rights to the airspace above their land, up to an altitude of 365 feet (111 m).[4]

In the United States, the air sovereignty mission had been renamed "Air Sovereignty Alert", but in 2011 it was renamed "Aerospace Control Alert." The majority of the aerospace control alert missions in the U.S. are carried out by the Air National Guard by units flying, at present time, the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon jets.[5][6][7]

## See also

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* Flyover rights
* Baltic Air Policing
* Icelandic Air Policing
* Quick Reaction Alert

## References

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1. ^ a b "NATO Air Policing".
2. ^ "Belgium, Netherlands to take turns in policing BENELUX airspace". Archived from the original on 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
3. ^ "Air Force". www.vtg.admin.ch. Switzerland.[permanent dead link]
4. ^ See wikipedia article United States v. Causby on the 1946 U.S. Supreme Court ruling 328 U.S. 256, pp 266–267.
5. ^ "Air sovereignty alert: America's security blanket". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
6. ^ "New name, same mission". Air Force Magazine. 3 October 2011.
7. ^ "Adm. James Winnefeld, the new NORAD and NORTHCOM boss, closely monitors what's needed to defend North America". Air Force Magazine. December 2010.

## External links

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* British Air sovereignty (video/documentary). Archived from the original on 2021-12-15 - via YouTube.

* about Swiss Air sovereignty (video clip). Archived from the original on 2021-12-15 - via YouTube.

* French Air sovereignty (video/documentary) (in French). Archived from the original on 2018-10-07 - via YouTube.

Authority control databases

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX