Army Sets New Plans to Boost Air and Missile Defense

The U.S.Army issued a new roadmap outlining plans to modernize its air-and-missile defense through 2028 to deter emerging weapons of adversaries, National Defense Magazine reported Monday. The roadmap focuses on the development of air-and-missile defense technologies, new capabilities for multi-domain operations, training of forces and maintaining forward presence and partnerships. 

“The operational environment has definitely changed and become more complex,” said Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, commanding general of Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command. Dickinson said the future battlefield may involve advanced weapons like unmanned aerial systems and hypersonic missiles. 

“If we’re going to adapt to great power competition, then we’re going to have to pivot our active air-and-missile defenses away from just rogue states to the real threat,” said Tom Karako, director of missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Army also intends to establish air-and-missile defense battalions that individually have “tailored force packages” to counter specific threats in the future.