AIR & SPACE FORCE LEADERSHIP ARE CALLING FOR CHANGE TO U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE STRATEGY
In general, Americans take a lot for granted, knowing that the hardworking warfighters we have around the world are serving our nation, keeping us safe. However, if we don’t grow and evolve as a country, our defenses stand to fall by the wayside. This is why leadership in the U.S. Space Force (USSF) and U.S. Air Force (USAF) are looking into shaking things up amid changing global threats. Learn more below about how the U.S. missile defense strategy is looking to evolve with the times.
Leaders Break Down Changes to the Future of U.S. Missile Defense Strategy
At the 2025 Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium, leaders were on centerstage discussing the changes necessary for the U.S. missile defense strategy in modern warfare.
With recent conflicts, new tech, and growing challenges coming into play, how the U.S. uses missile defense needs to change to meet these new world conditions.
Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, 11th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. Doug Schiess, Space Forces-Space and U.S. Space Command’s Combined Joint Forces Space Component Commander; U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. David N. Miller Jr., Space Operations Command Commander, and U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, Missile Defense Agency Director, were all available, spearheading what the future of our defenses will look like for a changing world.
Why the U.S. Is Changing Missile Defense Strategy
Make no mistake about it, the U.S. missile defense strategy is currently in a good place, but leaders are concerned about larger threats bursting through.
While our nation is prepared to defend against key adversaries, there’s a potential conflict with other world powers concerning leadership.
“In the last few years, we've had a strategic proposition launched by the United States Congress that said some very interesting things about missile defense. It emphasized the main leading missile defense is against Iran and North Korea, but it also said we need to build missile defenses to take away the threat that China and (the Kremlin) can bring to bear against us,” said Hyten.
Furthermore, as noted by Schiess, the USSF recently defended Israel against missiles from Iran and while things went well, overall, it wasn’t enough.
“What we saw in April was just an incredible volume of hundreds of missiles, not to mention one-way UAV attacks against Israel and into other parts of the Middle East. Our system did as well as it could—it provided the missile warning needed to our joint members or allies. But it wasn't good enough. There was latency in it. We knew we needed help,” said Schiess.
Using Guardians from Space Operations Command and Space Systems Command helped refine missile defense tactics, improving response time during the attacks, with leaders reporting “better tactics, techniques, and procedures.”
Having an integrated unit structure is proving to be more effective for Guardians for a number of missions, including missile threats.
While leaders are calling for flexibility in missile defense, the U.S. also needs to improve its technology while investing more in the program.
As noted by Collins, "The scale of the missile attacks we saw last year was beyond what these systems were initially designed for. And what we found pretty quickly was our processes to get updates to the team were way too slow. And so, in a crisis, we had Sailors getting shot at. We were able to cut that down into less than a week from beginning to end, getting software out to the field.”
Rolling out new tech quickly and effectively can help the U.S. work with allies better to defend against missiles but the big challenge of paying for everything remains.
“Magazine depth is going to be crucial in the future. It’s a problem…it’s a cost problem, it’s a skill problem, and it’s something we’re really going to have to get after,” said Collins.
The Indo-Pacific and Superpowers
Looking at the U.S. missile defense strategy, for decades, has meant a lot of focus on conflicts in the Middle East.
While there’s still plenty to pay attention to, the U.S. must address rising threats in the Indo-Pacific region, along with other superpowers that will provide a much more sophisticated threat.
As noted by Schiess, "The last engagement was a single-day event, but that’s not how it’s going to be in the Indo-Pacific fight. We’re working on training our crews for sustained combat operations."
More training and preparation are needed to help with proper defenses because even overcoming production issues does our nation no good if we don’t have the right personnel for deploying the strategy.
Furthermore, evolving threats aren’t just a problem for one branch or region, it’s a larger, overarching threat for multiple military branches.
"This isn’t just a Space Force problem; we must leverage Army and Navy capabilities as well. Working with allies is crucial…especially as we integrate new technologies," said Miller.
New “Golden Dome” U.S. Missile Defense Executive Order
One of the big topics discussed by the panel was President Trump’s executive order, which accelerated the deployment of the next-generation missile defense system, the “Golden Dome.”
“This is a massive undertaking. We must build a comprehensive defense against the world’s most advanced missile threats—on a tight timeline,” said Hyten.
The good news is that we already have progress, as noted by Miller, “We’re not starting from scratch. Space-based sensors, ground-based radars, and automated tracking will be key to meeting this mandate.”
Still, there's a lot of work to be done and no time to wait. Innovation is needed today because threats continue to evolve. “Missile defense works, but it must constantly evolve. The lessons we’ve learned will shape future defense strategies,” said Collins.
As threats grow, the military is committed to advancing the U.S. missile defense strategy worldwide but there are still challenges our nation must rise to overcome.
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