Are American Cities Protected By Anti-Air Defenses?
America’s Hidden Air Defense Network
Recent wars in the Middle East and Europe have highlighted the need for air defenses in our modern world. Israel is famously protected by the Iron Dome system, which is designed to intercept and destroy incoming rockets and drones. Ukraine has clamored for advanced Western surface-to-air missile systems (SAM) to protect its airspace from Russian incursion. With so much attention being paid to wars overseas, it raises a timely question. Is the United States protected by an adequate air defense system?
When you drive through America’s great cities, like Chicago or New York, you don’t see SAM batteries dotted about. There are no recognizable military installations within the cities. To the untrained eye, American cities look positively undefended. If enemy planes swarmed into US airspace, what would happen?
While you don’t see any apparent defenses, American air space is one of the most heavily defended in the world. Despite being far from any potential enemy combatant nations, such as Russia (save for Alaska), Iran, or North Korea, every US state has an intricate web of defenses that protects them from enemy attack. While most people imagine anti-air defenses as large missile sites or even old flak compounds, American air defense is primarily made…
