airborne alert

noun

1. a state of military alert wherein combat-equipped aircraft are flying and prepared for action.

Example Sentences

It could mean, he speculated, that Russia was sending more nuclear-missile-carrying submarines out to sea or placing more bombers on airborne alert or mobilizing its short-range nuclear weapons in western Russia.

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“Airborne alert sorties had been tasked, radio warnings issued and air defence missile systems deployed to monitor the activity,” the ministry said.

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“Airborne alert sorties had been tasked, radio warnings issued and air defence missile systems deployed to monitor the activity,” it said in a brief statement.

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Over the objection of the Danish government, the United States military stored nuclear weapons in Greenland and flew nuclear-armed B-52’s over the country — part of a secret airborne alert program targeting the Soviet Union.

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Elsewhere, B-52s went on airborne alert for strikes within the Soviet Union, and plans were developed for a strike on Cuba.

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