ARRC JOURNAL
POSITIONING AIR DEFENCE
FOR RE-INTRODUCTION OF
M-SHORAD
Maj Trey Guy (USA-A)
There is insufficient air defence to furnish what our senior leaders aspire to deliver within
the current, let alone the future, operating environment. This is consistently highlighted
with the strategic deployment of Patriot missile assets to the US Central Command
area of responsibility; counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) deployments to Iraq
and Afghanistan; new and emerging deployments throughout US Pacific Command,
reinvigorated adversaries to NATO, and a multitude of other requests.
to man division air defence airspace
management (ADAM) cells and CADEs
in the US Army, FADCs in the UK, and
similar cells within NATO. Once these
cells are sufficiently manned, the next
step would be to provide them the
training and tools to apply the division
or corps commander’s intent and assist
subordinate formations. The training
aspect of this development is on track
with programs like the ‘Re-Reading
Week’ prior to US ADA officers attending
US Army’s Command and General Staff
College.
Avenger Live Fire
As divisions and corps refocus on
tactical warfighting, one of the more
frequent requests is for short-range
air defence (SHORAD) units/leaders
to support exercises where the
potential adversary presents a near-
peer air threat. Whilst the US Army’s
Air Defense Artillery (ADA) branch,
Fires Centre of Excellence leaders
and others around the US Army
initiate action to shape the future,
there is activity that we can execute
now to forge a stronger relationship
with manoeuvre commanders both in
the present and in the future.
Within the UK military framework, the
corps headquarters would normally
include a formation air defence cell
(FADC), similar to US Army, which
would retain a Corps Air Defence
Element (CADE) at the corps level.
Both of these elements are intended to
provide the subject matter expertise to a
corps commander; divisional elements
should deliver the same advice for
their formations. One of the challenges
with the re-introduction of Manoeuvre-
SHORAD to ADA after many years of
“mothballing” capability in both systems
and personnel is that we cannot
instantaneously regenerate the expertise
or capability.
The shortfall is the manning of these cells,
or personnel capacity, for permanent
establishments and on exercises.
Anecdotally, a field artillery colleague
recently asked for any air defence
information I could provide as he wou