The answer to that question is uncertain. Our air defense system was designed to counter a massive Soviet attack on the United States in the event of World War III breaking out. To counter the Soviet threat, at the height of the Cold War, fifty fighters would be on “alert” at a dozen installations around the country to protect American airspace from Soviet incursions. The Red Air Force and the U.S. Air Force seemed to love to test one another’s detection and response systems as it happened regularly.
According to NORAD documents presented to the 9/11 Commission, there were fourteen fighters on alert at seven installations across the United States to protect the entire country on 9/11. This was due to the Cold War ending, and America not realizing that another war was about to be started. The Air Force could not vector in fighters to make any difference whatsoever and so the hijacked airliners either crashed into their intended targets or crashed after passengers attempted to retake their hijacked airliner from the terrorists.
Immediately after the attacks, the Air Force went to maximum alert and launched Operation Noble Eagle. Four hundred fighters were on duty around the clock, which continues to this day. According to NORAD documents, over 35,000 sorties have been launched since then with dozens of airliners coming under Air Force escort.
Yet, when the Reagan funeral was going on, the grounds of the Capitol and the Supreme Court were evacuated when a small plane entered restricted airspace. It was carrying the Governor of Kentucky, who had received permission to enter Washington airspace, but was experiencing radio trouble and so couldn’t contact ground control. This set off alarm bells and the Air Force responded. They were unable to intercept the plane before it was over key federal installations. It was fortunate that this was a false alarm, but the fact was that it broke through the Washington defenses with little opposition.
NORAD won’t say too much due to security concerns, but two fighters were scrambled to intercept the airplane but were too far away. On the ground, the Capitol was evacuated in record time. The plane landed without being challenged.
According to reports, the FAA didn’t inform the military or other agencies that this flight was a friendly or scheduled, the Air Force jets were out of position, the flight should not have been allowed under existing Homeland Security directives, and there was more than one radar system scanning the skies for potential threats with no coordination between the responsible agencies.
Major upgrades have been made since the incident, but the question remains whether the existing setup is good enough to stop inbound hostile air traffic. It appears that terrorists can use low-technology solutions to overcome high-technology defenses and this needs to be looked at, not shoveled under the carpet.
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