Air, artillery and missile defense
From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
Evolving from pure defense against aircraft, the various disciplines of air, artillery and missile defense now overlap. They also have significant responsibilities in deconflicting the operations of friendly air forces and army cooperation aviation.
While there is overlap, the broad missions include:
- Ballistic missile defense [r]: A combination of sensors, command and control systems, and missile/warhead kill mechanisms that protect a region, or, in the case of the U.S., theaters of operations as well as the nation proper. [e] (BMD)
- Cruise missile defense [r]: A set of techniques for detecting, tracking, and neutralizing cruise missiles and their launching platforms. The techniques involved include sensors, and both kinetic and nonkinetic mechanisms for disrupting the missiles and their launchers. [e]
- Defense against aircraft and UAVs [r]: An air defense that combines radar, anti-aircraft artillery, surface-to-air missiles, and fighter aircraft, presenting multiple layers of defense under systematic command and control [e] (IADS)
- Counter-rocket, artillery and mortar [r]: Military equipment and techniques to detect unguided rockets, artillery shells, and mortar rounds in flight, warn friendly forces that are threatened, and, with new methods, intercept and destroy the projectiles before they can do damage [e] (C-RAM)
- Counterbattery [r]: Defense against enemy artillery involving identifying the point of origin of hostile fire and directing lethal force against it [e]
