Pentagon: US airspace safe for Santa Claus

The Pentagon said Friday it has taken adequate measures to make sure Santa Claus travels safely on Christmas Eve. 

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which monitors and defends U.S. airspace, has taken precautions to protect Santa, said Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby. 

“So, in the cyber domain, they tell me that their anti-Grinch firewall is up and monitoring for threats, and they are confident that the AGFW, anti-Grinch firewall, can defeat any malicious attacks,” he said Friday. 

{mosads}”In the land domain, they tell me they verified load-bearing capacity for all rooftops that the reindeer will land on,” he added. 

“In the maritime domain, they say that Aegis radars are calibrated to track Santa and ships are standing by to conduct any lost-gift rescue operations, if necessary,” he said, referring to Aegis radars placed oncruisers at sea.

“In the air domain, they report that Canadian NORAD Region and Continental NORAD Region are ready to escort Santa when he enters U.S. and Canadian airspace. Through our coordination with the FAA and NAV-CANADA, we can confirm that North American airspace is safe for sleigh travel,” he said. 

The Pentagon also said Santa will be on time this year, and that radars will watch for Rudolph the Reindeer’s glowing nose.