July 14,
2008: After September 11, 2001, the U.S.
Air Force undertook Operation Noble Eagle. The North American Aerospace Defense Command
(a joint U.S. Canadian operation) was ordered to revamp and increase security
in American air space. This included Hawaii. Since then, nearly 52,000 combat
sorties have been flown, mainly by F-16s. That's about 20 sorties a day for all
of North America. This was more than
double the number of sorties flown in the 1990s. Back then, NORAD's long time
foe, the Soviet Union, had just disappeared. By the early 1990s, the thousands
of long range fighters and bombers of the Soviet Air Force were grounded or
junked. But after September 11, 2001, Russia revived its long range aircraft
force, and began making flights near the borders of the United States and
Canada.
Each of
those sorties cost $20,000 or more, and the entire Operation Noble Eagle cost
nearly $4 billion a year.