US Air Force stands up first rapidly deployable counter-drone units to protect Pacific air bases from attack
The Air Force has stood up its first rapidly deployable units built to defend air bases from drone attack. Point defense flights of about 20 Airmen, trained at Fort Sill, target Pacific airfields within range of China's long-range weapons. Per Air & Space Forces Magazine.
The US Air Force has stood up its first rapidly deployable units built specifically to defend air bases from drone attack. These "point defense flights" are made up of roughly 20 enlisted Airmen with aviation and battle-management backgrounds, trained at a counter-drone school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. They deploy with the Small Unmanned Air Defense System, a detection and defense kit Congress funded with $51.8 million in fiscal 2026, available in a fixed-base version and a version that can be rapidly deployed on an aircraft pallet. The units are intended first for Pacific airfields already within range of China's long-range weapons, part of the Air Force's agile combat employment concept. The push follows the deaths of at least nine of the sixteen US troops killed in the recent war with Iran, lost to drone and missile strikes on air bases in the Middle East, and the Air Force is now developing a dedicated career specialty for base air defense. For Airmen posted to exposed Pacific airfields already inside the range of Chinese long-range strike systems, this is the first time a dedicated, deployable unit exists whose sole job is stopping a drone before it hits the flight line. Per Air & Space Forces Magazine.