Warplanes will be over Chicago on Friday, and fighter jets will be on alert this weekend – all to keep Chicago’s skies safe during this week’s NATO summit, according to a statement released Thursday by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

NORAD said it will conduct an air defense exercise over Chicago on Friday to give the FAA, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Coast Guard and the NATO Joint Operations Center an opportunity to practice coordinating air intercept and identification skills. Aircraft participating in the exercise include tankers, jet fighters and a helicopter.

The exercise is called Amalgam Virgo 12-NATO.

“Our interagency partnerships are a key component to the air defense shield for events like this and the Amalgam Virgo exercise is an excellent opportunity for us to hone our air defense skills with interagency partners,” said Lt. Gen. Sid Clark, Continental U.S. NORAD commander, in a statement.

Area residents can expect flights to begin at 9 a.m. Friday and last for approximately two hours, NORAD said.

NORAD also announced that Air Force fighter jets will be on alert during the summit to enforce the no-fly zone that will be over Chicago Friday through Monday. It will dispatch warplanes to intercept aircraft that violate the no-fly zone. Planes that do not respond may be fired on.

“Providing the air defense for special security events like this year’s NATO Summit is a part of our day-to-day mission,” Clark said.

This month the FAA issued several notices to airman, what the agency calls NOTAMs, warning area pilots that Chicago airspace will be closed to all air traffic during the NATO summit this week.

The FAA said the temporary flight restriction, known to pilots as TFRs, will extend 30 nautical miles out from Chicago from the ground up to 18,000 feet.

“We issue TFRs on the request of different agencies as a security measure, and NORAD enforces those measures,” said Laura Brown, FAA spokeswoman.
The FAA and NORAD urged pilots to be aware of the restrictions and their effective times.

“Since 9/11 we’ve developed a fairly standard restriction for this type of event,” Brown said. “This one is a little different because the TFRs move with the president, so we encourage pilots to keep checking NOTAMs.”

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association also urged pilots to check with the FAA before flight because the restrictions could change with little or no notice.

“Carefully review the NOTAMS to ensure that you don’t make a mistake — there’s no room for error with these TFRs,” said Tom Zecha, association manager of aviation security, in a statement. “Everyone is on heightened alert.”

NORAD, based in Colorado, was created in 1958 to coordinate military air defense between the U.S. and Canada in the event of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, the organization was tasked with monitoring all aircraft flying in U.S. airspace. The command may monitor, shadow, divert from flight path, direct to land – and destroy aircraft deemed to be a threat.

Last week NORAD dispatched two F-16 fighters from an undisclosed location to intercept an aircraft that had violated the protected airspace around Air Force One as President Obama was departing from Los Angeles International Airport.

The plane landed without incident and was met by law-enforcement.