KHABAROVSK. Aug 2 (Interfax) - Military aircrews will practice operations to force hijacked jet liners to land in a joint drill to be conducted by the Russian, American and Canadian air forces in the Vigilant Eagle drill on August 8 to 11.
The basic premise is that an American-flagged jet liner, Boeing 757, on a flight from Anchorage to Tokyo, is seized by terrorists, Igor Muginov, the press secretary for the Eastern Military District commander, told Interfax.
"A similar drill will involve the 'seizure' of a Russian Ilyushin Il-62 on a flight from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Anadyr. The 'terrorists' will order the crew to divert the plane to the United States," he said.
The crews of the "hijacked" jet liners will not respond to communications and will divert from the initial route and try to break beyond the national air space, he said.
"Fighter jets and airborne warning and control aircraft (AWACS) from Russia and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be tasked to identify the jet liners, intercept them and force the 'terrorists' to land at specially prepared airfields, where special task units will be ready to disarm the hijackers," Muginov said.
Airborne warning and control aircraft (AWACS) from Russia and the United States will coordinate fighter-interceptor aircraft and refueling aircraft from both countries.