PATRIOT ISR: The Need for Snake-Eaters

Abstract : Traditionally, air defense units in theater, specifically PATRIOT, have had ground maneuver units attached to them to provide operational ground security. The problem is that attached ground defense units erode the overall situational awareness of air defense commanders. At the same time, this practice has limited these assigned maneuver units' ability to focus on offensive and follow-on operations. The mission of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) is to protect the force and selected geopolitical assets from aerial attack, missile attack, and surveillance. The theater objectives of ADA are to preserve combat power, gain the initiative, and support offensive operations. However, in the current counterinsurgency (COIN) operations that U.S. forces are engaged in, the likelihood of a future enemy employing both conventional and unconventional methods of warfare are becoming more and more likely. The United States Army Air and Missile Defense community needs to develop and integrate ground intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) into their general operations, giving the U.S. Army Air Defense units more operational flexibility. This will increase survivability, situational awareness, and situational understanding to the commanders during air defense operations. Typically, air defense planners emplace PATRIOT units in distant remote locations. Unfortunately, once these units are in position, they are extremely vulnerable to asymmetric threats. Although Quick Reaction Force (QRF) teams are effective in reacting to specific enemy actions, organic ISR teams would enable the commander to take a proactive action to counter enemy threats before they evolve. In addition, future air defense operations against a more hybrid threat will require PATRIOT batteries to emplace in locations that are both distant from and close to urban areas as well as in rural, sparsely populated sites.