Countering the Missile Threat

Air Force Magazine ^ | 12/2010 | Rebecca Grant

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

New generations of enemy missiles, and a willingness to use them, could put air bases under siege like never before. Operating from air bases under threat of missile attack may become one of the most important keys to projecting US airpower in the years ahead. For all its expeditionary experience, it has been decades since the Air Force has so intently focused on this problem.

Now, top leadership is again taking it seriously.

"The attack against the naval base at Pearl Harbor was recorded in history as a day which will live in infamy," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz in a September address to AFA’s 2010 Air & Space Conference. "What is lesser known is that enemy aircraft first targeted our fighters on the ground, preventing them from gaining control of the air and challenging the offensive."

Both joint and Air Force doctrine instruct commanders to take care of base defense. However, ensuring the tempo of air base operations across a region, with missile attacks in progress, has not been treated as a major variable in air campaigns for some time. Schwartz’s warning suggests this is about to change as nations such as China and Iran sharpen their ability to disrupt operations.