How US Army Is Rebuilding Its Missile Defense Around Mass and Preemptive Action.

As ballistic and aerial threats proliferate and diversify, the US Army is preparing to release, by October 2025, a complete overhaul of its air and missile defense strategy, with a planning horizon extending to 2040. This new doctrinal framework, announced by Lieutenant General Sean A. Gainey during the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, comes at a time of growing saturation, increasing sophistication of offensive vectors, and major shifts in command and control architectures. Far from being a mere update, this strategy signals a clear break from the post-2018 legacy by reaffirming the centrality of mass in air defense and embedding preemptive action as a core operational principle.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems for a readiness exercise in Germany (Picture source: US DoD)

Since the last version was published in 2018, the global strategic landscape has shifted dramatically. Drone campaigns in the Middle East, precision strikes in Ukraine, and saturation maneuvers by both state and non-state actors have exposed the limitations of sequential interception models. Adversaries are no longer attempting to breach a shield; they seek to overwhelm it. Within this context, General Gainey calls for a return to fundamentals, explicitly naming mass as a critical factor in tactical resilience. Warfare is once again a matter of volume, in munitions, sensors, and command nodes. As more coordinated salvos of theater-level weapons emerge, the ability to absorb the initial blow becomes as decisive as the ability to respond.

However, mass alone is no longer sufficient. The US Army now aims to go further by adopting a proactive posture centered on the neutralization of threats before they are launched. This approach, referred to as smart missile defeat, goes beyond linear defense logic and fits within a broader framework of informational and multi-domain attrition warfare. It entails integrating non-kinetic capabilities such as cyber disruption, electronic warfare, and AI-driven ISR strikes to delay, degrade, or disrupt adversary supply chains, launch platforms, and command systems.

In this light, artificial intelligence is no longer viewed as a tactical aid but as a core doctrinal enabler. The Army is investing in hybrid decision-making architectures, where machines help absorb operators’ cognitive workload and offer near-real-time distributed targeting decisions. According to General Gainey, this shift implies a redefinition of the human role, from operator to supervisor. This transition underpins the development of the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS), designed to connect all available sensors and effectors, regardless of origin, within a modular command and distributed fires framework.

The broad deployment of IBCS, combined with the fielding of new sensors such as LTAMDS and short-range interceptors like M-SHORAD, is intended to produce a more agile, distributed, and lethal force. Alongside this, the US Army is also asserting a stronger role in homeland defense, working with NORAD and the Missile Defense Agency to support the development of the Golden Dome, a layered missile defense shield intended to address both theater-level and strategic threats. Though still in early stages, this effort reflects the growing ambition of the Space and Missile Defense Command to operate not just beyond the perimeter but within the national defense architecture itself.

The forthcoming 2040 strategy is thus a structural response to a dual challenge: absorbing saturation while regaining the initiative. It aligns with broader doctrinal shifts outlined in the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which calls for more adaptable, distributed forces capable of operating in contested, high-intensity environments. The return to mass is not a conservative fallback. It is a capacity expansion backed by command tools and technologies designed to strike before adversaries can act. In other words, the goal is not merely to survive the initial blow but to prevent it from occurring at all.