United States Armed Forces

====Air Defense Artillery====
{{main|Air Defense Artillery Branch}}
[[File:220305-F-EI268-1044 - Arctic sky illuminates Patriot (Image 2 of 2).jpg|thumb|An [[MIM-104 Patriot]] missile battery in [[Alaska]] operated by the [[11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (United States)|11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade]]]]

The Air Defense Artillery is responsible for defending geopolitical assets and providing maneuver forces with the freedom to move on the battlefield by deterring the enemy and destroying aerial threats, missile attacks, and surveillance platforms.<ref name="auto9">{{cite web | url=https://sill-www.army.mil/ocada/ada.html | title=OCADA &#124; Fort Sill &#124; Oklahoma &#124; Fires Center of Excellence }}</ref> Weapons employed by Air Defense Artillery include the [[FIM-92 Stinger]] [[man-portable air-defense system]], [[AN/TWQ-1 Avenger]], for [[short range air defense]], and the [[counter rocket, artillery, and mortar]] 20mm gun system. The [[Iron Dome]] provides air defense against rockets, artillery, mortars, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles, while the [[MIM-104 Patriot]] is capable of defeating a wide range of threats including aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, ballistic and cruise missiles, and Weapons of Mass Destruction.<ref name="auto9"/>

The [[Terminal High Altitude Area Defense]] protects strategic critical assets by conducting long-range endo-and-exo-atmospheric engagements of ballistic missiles using the world's largest air-transportable X-band radar. The [[Ground-Based Midcourse Defense]] is an [[anti-ballistic missile]] system operated by [[Army Space and Missile Defense Command]] to defend the United States homeland against an intercontinental ballistic missile attack.<ref name="auto9"/> Major Air Defense Artillery units include the [[32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command]] and Army Space and Missile Defense Command's [[100th Missile Defense Brigade]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.army.mil/32ndAAMDC | title=32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.smdc.army.mil/ORGANIZATION/100thMDB/ | title=100th Missile Defense Brigade }}</ref>

Air Defense Artillery has an extremely close relationship with the Air Force through its Air and Missile Defense Commands and the Space Force through Army Space and Missile Defense Command, given their shared missile defense and space roles. In 1962, Air Defense Artillery achieved the first intercept of a ballistic missile with a nuclear-tipped [[Nike Zeus]] and operated the Nike Zeus as an [[anti-satellite weapon]] after completing a successful intercept in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smdc.army.mil/Portals/38/Documents/Publications/History/SMDC%20History%20Booklet_508_Final.pdf|title=A Chronological Review of 60 Years|website=smdc.army.mil}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ausa.org/articles/realign-air-defense-structure|title=Realign Air Defense Structure|date=23 June 2021|website=AUSA}}</ref>