Senate lawmakers want report on Army air and missile defense

The Senate Armed Services Committee is seeking a classified report on the Army's integrated air and missile defense capabilities in light of recent attacks on deployed forces and advanced capabilities held by Russia and China.

"Great-power competitors have invested heavily in long-range missiles, both in quantity and in advanced technologies such as hypersonics, and rockets and mortars remain weapons of choice against U.S. and partner security forces in non-conventional operations," authorizers say in the report accompanying their mark of the fiscal year 2021 defense policy bill.

Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) filed the bill earlier this week.

"The committee notes that the Army is responsible for 'conduct[ing] air and missile defense to support joint campaigns,' per Department of Defense directive 5100.01, and operates the majority of the ground-based air and missile defense capabilities in the Joint Force," the mark states. "Additionally, the Army was designated Executive Agent for Counter Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-sUAS) in November 2019, and stood up the Joint C-sUAS Office in January 2020."

The report would be due to the congressional defense committees by Feb. 15.