4 days ago
U.S. Army air defenses are a sizzling hot commodity
The demand for U.S. Army overhead defenses will not "be letting up anytime soon," a service leader told Axios on the sidelines of the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.
Why it matters: Missile defense is hot right now, from the defense of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar — during which the single largest Patriot salvo was launched — to the service's quadrupling of its PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement acquisition goal.
The stakes are further amplified by fighting in Eastern Europe and the greater Middle East, where explosive drones batter troops and civilians every day.
The latest: "Our air defenders are probably one of the most in-demand and operationally deployed capabilities that we have within the Army," David Fitzgerald, the senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary of the Army, said in an onstage interview during Axios' Future of Defense: Domes, Drones and Dollars event last night in the Rocket City.
"Those units get rode pretty hard," he said.
"I think that's just reflective, though, of the critical capability that they bring" to the fight.
The intrigue: Fitzgerald sees opportunities for increased AI application in the future.
Coordinated swarms of missiles, drones and decoys have complicated the job of protecting military bases, critical infrastructure and cities.
By the numbers: The Army is planning to grow its air-and-missile defense force by 30%, Defense News reported Tuesday.
