MOSCOW. June 1 (Interfax) - Russia and NATO are to hold the first joint exercise in countering air terrorism, Russia's National Anti-terrorist Committee (NAC) said.
"During the period from June 6 to 10, 2011, the Russian and NATO fighter aircraft will take part in the Vigilant Sky-2011 counterterrorist exercise - a joint demonstration of the Cooperative Airspace Initiative (CAI) of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC)," a NAC official told Interfax on Wednesday.
"This initiative is designed to prevent terror attacks using civil aircraft similar to the attack at the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, through exchange of information about flights in Russia's and NATO airspace and coordination of interceptions of invading aircraft," the NAC said.
The new security system regulates exchange between Russia and NATO of radar data about air traffic and allows to issue early warnings about suspicious aerial activities on the basis of mutually agreed procedures, the Committee said.
"In a situation, where an aircraft starts behaving in an undue manner, the coordination system provides additional information and means of communication for ensuring a prompt joint response to terrorist threats," the NAC official said.
The joint NATO-Russia joint counterterrorist exercise of this kind will be held for the first time and is an important stage in achieving the operational readiness of the CAI information exchange system, the NAC said.
The exercise will allow to raise the general potential in countering terror threats on air transport, to ensure the transparency and predictability of developments on air transport and to strengthen confidence-building measures along the line of contact between Russia and NATO, the Committee said.