Air sovereignty

Air sovereignty is the fundamental right of a sovereign state to regulate the use of its airspace and enforce its own aviation law - in extremis by the use of fighter aircraft.

Airspace above the land and sea areas of a state generally forms part of the sovereign state area. Flights by some civil aircraft into the airspace of a UN member state does not need prior permission (Convention on International Civil Aviation). In the United States, the air sovereignty mission had been renamed "Air Sovereignty Alert", but in 2011 it was renamed "Aerospace Control Alert." The lion's share of the aerospace control alert missions in the U.S. are carried out by the Air National Guard by units flying, at present time, the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon jets.