{"id":22711552,"date":"2026-09-16T10:49:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T08:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/usaf-point-defense-air-base-defence-takeover-abads-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T10:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T08:50:10","slug":"usaf-point-defense-air-base-defence-takeover-abads-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/usaf-point-defense-air-base-defence-takeover-abads-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air Force Is Taking Air Base Defence Away From the Army"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<p>For as long as the United States has had an independent Air Force, defending its airfields against attack from the sky has been somebody else&rsquo;s job. Specifically, the Army&rsquo;s.<\/p><p>That arrangement is quietly collapsing, and at the Air, Space and Cyber conference this week the Air Force said so out loud.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;We can no longer treat point defense as a side hustle.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>General Kenneth S. Wilsbach<\/strong> &mdash; Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, September 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>The service is now standing up its own units, writing its own career field, asking industry for its own launcher, and considering creating its own acquisition office to buy the whole thing. It is, in effect, taking the mission over.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px;color:#1a1a1a\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>The change:<\/strong> the Air Force is assuming responsibility for defending its own air bases against drones and cruise missiles, a mission traditionally owned by the US Army<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Said where:<\/strong> AFA Air, Space &amp; Cyber conference, 14&ndash;15 September 2026<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Under consideration:<\/strong> a new acquisition office to oversee the point defence mission, per Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink, 14 September<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>FY2027 request:<\/strong> about $1.4 billion for a missile-defence variant of the Air Base Air Defense System (ABADS)<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>FY2026 funding:<\/strong> $51.8 million in procurement for Small Unmanned Air Defense Systems (SUADS), in fixed-base and pallet-deployable variants<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>New units:<\/strong> the first point defence flights, rapidly deployable for agile combat employment in the Pacific, plus a new job specialty code for a base-defence career path<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Battle lab:<\/strong> the Point Defense Battle Lab, stood up October 2025 and led by the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks AFB<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why the Arrangement Broke<\/h2><p>The traditional division of labour made sense when the threat to an airfield was a bomber or a ballistic missile, both of which are expensive, rare and best handled by a dedicated Army air defence artillery branch with Patriot batteries.<\/p><p>It makes much less sense when the threat is a propeller-driven drone costing less than a used car, launched in numbers, at a base the Army has no unit near.<\/p><p>The bill for that mismatch has already been paid. Nine of the sixteen American service members killed during the hostilities with Iran died in drone and missile attacks on bases, including Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. On 27 March an Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia severely damaged an E-3 Sentry AWACS along with aerial refuelling aircraft.<\/p><p>Those are not aircraft lost in combat. They are aircraft lost on the ground, which is historically how most aircraft have been lost, and which the Air Force had allowed itself to stop thinking about.<\/p>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/mq-9-reaper-group-5-drone-threat.jpg\" alt=\"An MQ-9 Reaper, the size class the Air Force wants its new launcher to defeat\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Air Force wants one launcher able to engage everything from a 20 lb Group 1 quadcopter to a Group 5 aircraft the size and weight of this MQ-9 Reaper. US Air Force photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sAgR9xgdmUc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What They Are Actually Asking Industry For<\/h2><p>The concrete artefact behind the rhetoric is a request for information issued on 17 July by the Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.<\/p><p>It asks for a ground-based launcher able to engage <em>both<\/em> cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft, carrying onboard sensors, a laser illuminator, command and control, and a kinetic weapon. The target set runs from Group 1 drones weighing up to 20 pounds all the way to Group 5 threats over 1,320 pounds &mdash; MQ-9 Reaper size.<\/p><p>That is an enormous span for one system, and the questions the RFI asks reveal what the Air Force has learned. It wants firing rate across all magazines and total magazine depth. It wants to know the manpower to sustain it, how it transports, and how fast it deploys.<\/p><p>Magazine depth and firing rate are saturation questions. They are what you ask when you expect to be shot at by many cheap things at once rather than one expensive thing occasionally.<\/p><h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Acquisition Office Is the Real Tell<\/h2><p>Secretary Meink&rsquo;s remark about exploring a dedicated acquisition office sounds like bureaucratic housekeeping. It is not.<\/p><p>In the Pentagon, a mission without a programme office is a mission that gets funded out of whatever is left over. Creating one means a budget line, a colonel whose career depends on it, and a place for industry to sell. Meink had already told lawmakers in May that base defence had become &ldquo;an increasingly high priority,&rdquo; describing a span of work &ldquo;from electronic warfare to directed energy to kinetic capabilities.&rdquo;<\/p><p>The counter-drone gadgets have been arriving for a year &mdash; jammers, guns, lasers, battle labs. What was missing was somebody whose actual job it was. That is the gap being closed.<\/p><h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Part Nobody Has Solved<\/h2><p>None of this answers the cost question, which is the same one NATO&rsquo;s air commander raised in Europe this week: defeating a cheap drone with an expensive interceptor is a losing trade even when it works every time.<\/p><p>The Air Force&rsquo;s answer so far is breadth &mdash; electronic warfare where it works, directed energy where it works, kinetic weapons where nothing else will do. Whether $1.4 billion buys enough of any of them to cover a dispersed Pacific posture is the question the FY2027 budget will start to answer, and the answer will not arrive quickly.<\/p><p><em>Sources: Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine (Matthew Cox, July 2026, and AFA conference reporting, September 2026); US Air Force RFI, 17 July 2026; House Armed Services Committee testimony, 20 May 2026.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who is responsible for defending US Air Force bases from air attack?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Air base defence has traditionally been a US Army mission, handled by air defence artillery units. As of 2026 the Air Force is taking on the role itself, standing up dedicated point defence flights, creating a base-defence career field and seeking its own equipment.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the Air Base Air Defense System?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"ABADS is the Air Force programme for defending air bases against aerial attack. The service requested roughly $1.4 billion in its fiscal 2027 budget for a missile-defence variant, alongside $51.8 million in fiscal 2026 procurement for Small Unmanned Air Defense Systems.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What ground-based launcher does the Air Force want?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A July 2026 request for information asked industry for a launcher able to engage both cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft, with onboard sensors, a laser illuminator, command and control and a kinetic weapon, covering targets from 20 lb Group 1 drones to Group 5 aircraft over 1,320 lb.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why is the Air Force changing how it defends its bases?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Cheap drones have proved able to kill people and destroy aircraft on the ground. Nine of the sixteen US service members killed during hostilities with Iran died in drone and missile attacks on bases, and an Iranian strike on Prince Sultan Air Base severely damaged an E-3 Sentry AWACS.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the Point Defense Battle Lab?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Point Defense Battle Lab was stood up in October 2025 and is led by the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base. It develops tactics, techniques and procedures for defending bases using commercially available counter-drone technology, with industry demonstrations through 2026.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What are drone Groups 1 to 5?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The US military classifies unmanned aircraft by size and weight. Group 1 covers the smallest, up to 20 pounds, such as quadcopters. Group 5 covers the largest, over 1,320 pounds, comparable to an MQ-9 Reaper. The Air Force wants one launcher able to handle the whole range.\"}}]}<\/script><section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Who is responsible for defending US Air Force bases from air attack?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Air base defence has traditionally been a US Army mission, handled by air defence artillery units. As of 2026 the Air Force is taking on the role itself, standing up dedicated point defence flights, creating a base-defence career field and seeking its own equipment.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the Air Base Air Defense System?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">ABADS is the Air Force programme for defending air bases against aerial attack. The service requested roughly $1.4 billion in its fiscal 2027 budget for a missile-defence variant, alongside $51.8 million in fiscal 2026 procurement for Small Unmanned Air Defense Systems.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What ground-based launcher does the Air Force want?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A July 2026 request for information asked industry for a launcher able to engage both cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft, with onboard sensors, a laser illuminator, command and control and a kinetic weapon, covering targets from 20 lb Group 1 drones to Group 5 aircraft over 1,320 lb.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why is the Air Force changing how it defends its bases?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Cheap drones have proved able to kill people and destroy aircraft on the ground. Nine of the sixteen US service members killed during hostilities with Iran died in drone and missile attacks on bases, and an Iranian strike on Prince Sultan Air Base severely damaged an E-3 Sentry AWACS.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the Point Defense Battle Lab?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Point Defense Battle Lab was stood up in October 2025 and is led by the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base. It develops tactics, techniques and procedures for defending bases using commercially available counter-drone technology, with industry demonstrations through 2026.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What are drone Groups 1 to 5?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The US military classifies unmanned aircraft by size and weight. Group 1 covers the smallest, up to 20 pounds, such as quadcopters. Group 5 covers the largest, over 1,320 pounds, comparable to an MQ-9 Reaper. The Air Force wants one launcher able to handle the whole range.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/usaf-ground-based-medium-caliber-gun-air-base-defence-2026\/\">The USAF Wants a Medium-Calibre Gun for Base Defence<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pacaf-dronebuster-5-counter-drone-jammers-2026\/\">PACAF Buys Dronebuster 5 Jammers<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/muwaffaq-salti-iran-damages-us-a-10-f-15e-2026\/\">Muwaffaq Salti: Iranian Strikes Damage US Aircraft<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/amp-hel-army-laser-cartel-drones-border-2026\/\">The Army\u2019s Laser Goes Hunting Drones<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For as long as the United States has had an independent Air Force, defending its airfields against attack from the sky has been somebody else&rsquo;s job. Specifically, the Army&rsquo;s. That arrangement is quietly collapsing, and at the Air, Space and Cyber conference this week the Air Force said so out loud. &ldquo;We can no longer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":22711302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22711552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Air Force Takes Air Base Defence From the Army | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Air base defence was always the Army\u2019s job. 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Antwain Ousley, left, an Albany, Georgia, native, and a Patriot launching station enhanced operator with the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery, receives a coin for his dedication to the mission from Brig. Gen. Gregory J. Brady, right, the commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, May 19, 2021, at a Croatian air force base in Zadar. DEFENDER-Europe 21 is a large-scale U.S. Army-led exercise designed to build readiness and interoperability between the U.S., NATO allies and partner militaries. This year, more than 28,000 multinational forces from 26 nations will conduct nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas in more than a dozen countries from the Baltics to the strategically important Balkans and Black Sea Region. 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