US Army Applies Air Defense Lessons From Ukraine and the Middle East

US Army officials say intense missile and drone attacks in global conflicts are shaping how the service trains air defenders and protects them from threats. Lessons tied to MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and crews are being incorporated into training to help soldiers keep pace with evolving tactics.

The main takeaway: air defense is no longer only about intercepting incoming weapons. It also depends on keeping crews, launchers, sensors, and command systems harder to find, target, and overwhelm.

In Ukraine, Russian forces have hunted Patriot batteries and other air-defense systems while also trying to overwhelm them with one-way attack drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles. Those attacks are giving the Army lessons in mobility, concealment, deception, and dispersal.

Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said air defenders have been “probably the most aggressive community in the Army for learning lessons from Ukraine,” especially around survivability and protecting critical assets.

Army officials also said the US war with Iran has provided valuable air-defense data. Rafferty said roughly 2,500 soldiers from his command are deployed to the Middle East, including air defense formations and space specialists, and that about 25% to 30% of the command’s air defense formations are deployed.

Those forces consist primarily of Patriot units and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile defense crews. Col. Matthew Ingils said lessons from the Middle East include the “types of threats” as well as the “scale, the scope, the complexity” of what units are seeing.

Soldiers are using combat simulations that are being updated with lessons from Ukraine and the Middle East. The conflicts show that air defenses are essential for intercepting missiles and drones, protecting critical assets, and challenging aircraft.

But heavy expenditure of air-defense interceptors and other munitions has raised concerns about whether the US is sufficiently stocked for future fights. At the same time, air defenders have become priority targets, making dispersal, camouflage, and mobility increasingly important to their survival.