Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, chief of Space and Missile Defense Command, said the air and missile defense framework of the U.S. Army will leverage new technologies and build mission ready forces to counter emerging threats, including unmanned aerial systems and hypersonic weapons, Defense News reported Wednesday.
The framework aims to provide troops the ability to protect maneuvering ground forces and critical assets in multi-domain operations. The Army wants to build new AMD systems using already fielded technologies as well as those under development and to train mission ready forces along with allies and partners.
Other modernization efforts in the framework include a replacement for the Patriot AMD radar, the Indirect Fire Protection Capability to deter physical threats and the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System to serve as the brains of the missile defense systems.Â
The Army plans to deploy laser weapons to protect troops from rocket, artillery, mortar and drone threats between 2024 and 2026. Multi-mission battalions will also be established in the coming years to support AMD forces. The Army aims to deploy the first battalion into the field in 2021 and another three in fiscal year 2023.Â
