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• Air base defense has been an enduring area of disagreement and frustration for the Army and Air Force.
• Although many factors are at play, the misalignment of service responsibilities and priorities for air base defense is hindering the correction of enduring shortfalls.
• The limitations of joint force development processes, Army resource constraints, and Air Force ambivalence have also contributed to an air base defense roles and functions roadblock.
• The Air Force may be able to bypass this roadblock through innovation and the use of advanced technologies, such as directed energy.
• The most robust strategy to improve air base defenses would pursue parallel lines of effort.

The growing cruise and ballistic missile threat to U.S. Air Force bases in Europe has led Headquarters U.S. Air Forces Europe to reassess defensive options, including active ground-based systems that are currently assigned to the Army. The gap between the cruise missile threat and the U.S. joint force's capacity and capability to counter the threat is particularly worrisome. Constraints on resources and Army prioritization of mobile short-range air defenses for forward forces suggest that shortfalls in air base air defenses are likely to continue unless U.S. Department of Defense force planning and posture decisions give higher priority to these point defenses. This report presents a broad assessment of the threats, defense options, and constraints. The authors offer alternative courses of action for Air Force leadership and assess strengths and weaknesses of each. Although the U.S. Army has been assigned the mission, that mission is not a priority for the Army, as reflected by the lack of dedicated forces. The Air Force is increasingly interested in acquiring its own ground-based air defense but does not believe it has the authority to do so.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Threats to Air Bases

• Chapter Three

  Air Base Defense Options

• Chapter Four

  Roles and Missions: Key West to the Vietnam War

• Chapter Five

  Roles and Missions: Cold War Europe to Today

• Chapter Six

  Organizational Strategies to Improve U.S. Air Force Air Base Defense Capabilities

• Chapter Seven

  Findings and Recommendations