What does «Artillería de defensa aérea» mean in Spanish?
- Air defense artillery (ADA) is a combat arms branch of the U.S. Army, with responsibility for protecting ground forces from aircraft and missile attacks. The term anti-aircraft artillery is a more general term for gun-based air defense weapons. Recently, the U.S. ADA mission has expanded to include rockets, artillery and mortars, and to work in conjunction with Army aviation in airspace deconfliction over a brigade combat team. While the usual emphasis is on field operations, if the U.S. deploys a national ballistic missile defense system, the ADA would operate it if deployed. The Army has acknowledged that there have been no air strikes against U.S. forces in recent decades, although Iraq used SS-1 SCUD (and derivatives) ballistic missiles in the Gulf War and Iraq War, and there is less need for traditional ADA in the field. There is a need for ballistic missile defense, and new capabilities may enable defense against unguided rockets, artillery, and mortars. Cruise missiles are also a potential threat in the field; anti-ship missiles were used by Iraq in 1991, and comparable land-based systems exist.