Air Force to bolster point defense with new weapon system and career field

The U.S. Air Force is elevating point defense to a core mission set, launching a new integrated weapon system and creating a dedicated career field to better protect air bases and sustain combat airpower. Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach announced the twin initiatives during his Sept. 14 keynote at the 2026 Air and Space Forces Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

“Ultimately, point defense is about preserving our ability to generate combat airpower,” Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham, Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, said. “We’re building the Airmen, the systems and the integrated command and control necessary to keep our bases operating and our aircraft flying in the face of attack.”

At the center of the effort is the Point Defense Weapon System, envisioned as a system-of-systems that connects sensors, command-and-control, and layered kinetic and non-kinetic tools to detect, track, and defeat airborne threats before they can disrupt installation operations. Rather than fielding a single platform, the Air Force plans an enterprise framework designed to plug in new capabilities as threats, technologies, and mission needs evolve.

The Air Force also is standing up a new career field for point defense specialists, aiming to make it operational within two years. These Airmen will develop expertise in operating and integrating sensors, command and control, and layered defensive capabilities, working alongside Security Forces and joint partners to deliver coordinated base defense.

“Establishing a new career field is about more than creating a specialty code,” Lt. Gen. Jefferson O’Donnell, Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, said. “We must build a professional community with the right training, experience, and career development to deliver this capability over time. Success is an Air Force where Airmen—recruited, trained, developed, and retained as point defense specialists—strengthen the Air Force’s ability to fight and win.”

The initiative builds on the service’s long-running integrated defense approach and on April 2025 guidance in the Point Defense of Air Bases Doctrine Advisory, which describes how installation-level defenses tie into wider joint air and missile defense. In practice, the Air Force says point defense units and systems will connect to existing homeland air defense constructs and, in contingency and combat operations, integrate with theater joint architectures.

“Defense of our air bases cannot occur in isolation from the airspace around them,” Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham, Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, said. “Our sensors, command and control and defensive tools must connect to the broader air defense network, whether we’re defending an installation in the homeland or a forward operating location in conflict. We need to contribute to that larger picture and benefit from what the joint force sees, giving commanders the information and options they need to employ the right effect at the right time.”

Air Force leaders emphasized the new career field will complement, not replace, Security Forces, which retain core responsibility for integrated base defense. “Our Security Forces Airmen have built a legacy of excellence in integrated defense,” Lt. Gen. Kenyon Bell, Air Force deputy chief of staff for logistics, engineering and force protection, said. “They understand how to bring capabilities together to protect our installations and keep the mission going. Point defense builds on that foundation, integrating our defenders with specialized point defense forces to create an even more effective, layered defense.” To formalize the partnership, a Security Forces Airman will serve as deputy career field manager for point defense.

To stay ahead of rapidly evolving threats such as uncrewed systems and cruise missiles, the service says the Point Defense Weapon System will feature an open, modular architecture and rapid integration pathways. “We need a weapon system that can adapt as quickly as the threat,” said Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, Air Force deputy chief of staff for force modernization and chief modernization officer. “That means building an open, modular architecture that allows us to rapidly integrate new sensors and defensive tools, adapt to different operating environments and remain connected to the broader defensive network.”

The Air Force said both the weapon system and the career field are in early development, with more details to come as requirements, training pipelines, and integration plans are refined.