• The US Army is applying lessons from Ukraine and Iran to better prepare its air defenders.
• Forward-deployed air defense units are bringing back lessons from combat.
• Combat simulations are evolving to reflect new battlefield threats and tactics.

Intense missile and drone attacks in global conflicts are showing the US Army how it needs to train its air defenders, as well as how to protect them from threats, Army officials said.

Lessons on protecting MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and crews are coming in, and Army leaders say those observations are being quickly incorporated into training to help troops keep pace with evolving threats and tactics.

In their war against Ukraine, Russian forces have hunted Patriot batteries and other air-defense systems while also trying to overwhelm them with complex barrages of one-way attack drones alongside ballistic and cruise missiles, providing lessons in mobility, concealment, deception, and dispersal. The war with Iran, meanwhile, has exposed American and allied air defenders to the challenge of defending against large-scale drone and missile bombardments while managing interceptor stocks. The Army is learning those lessons, officials say.

Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, the head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, told reporters at the Association of the United States Army conference last week that air defenders have been "probably the most aggressive community in the Army for learning lessons from Ukraine," with an emphasis on survivability and the protection of critical assets.

"How have we embraced those observations from Ukraine and then put them into action?" Rafferty said this was one of the first questions he asked when he took command earlier this year.

He said that he has seen how command teams have "put those lessons in place and how they are taking steps to protect their soldiers, to protect the critical systems of Patriots and sensors, protection, camouflage, deception, all of that."

Officials with the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command told Business Insider that observations and lessons from Ukraine are shared with its headquarters at Fort Bliss, Texas, where training materials for air defense soldiers are updated. The information is also shared with the larger Army and industry partners.

The 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command recently transferred to Army Space and Missile Defense Command and is tasked with missile defense planning across different regions. Its responsibilities include both active defenses, such as intercepting incoming missiles, and passive measures, such as camouflage and dispersal, as well as coordinating intelligence and command-and-control.

Rafferty and other officials said that the US war with Iran, which has stress-tested American air defense units, is providing valuable data on air defense. According to Rafferty, roughly 2,500 soldiers from his command are deployed to the Middle East, including both air defense formations and space specialists.

He said that roughly 25% to 30% of the command's air defense formations are deployed. These forces consist primarily of Patriot units and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile defense crews.

"We're taking the things that we're seeing in the Middle East and feeding it back to the other brigades in the formation," Col. Matthew Ingils, deputy commanding officer for operations with the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said.

Lessons include "the types of threats" as well as "the scale, the scope, the complexity of what we're seeing," and then training new formations on that insight so that individual soldiers who join an air defense unit can quickly catch up.

The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East present different challenges, giving the Army a broader range of lessons to incorporate into its training.

To prepare to counter new threats or employ new tactics, soldiers use combat simulations that are being updated with lessons from the Middle East and Ukraine.

Current conflicts have shown the Army and broader US military that air defenses are essential for intercepting missiles and drones, protecting critical assets, and challenging aircraft.

Heavy expenditure of air-defense interceptors and other munitions, however, have raised concerns about whether the US is sufficiently stocked for future fights.

At the same time, air defenders themselves have become priority targets for enemy forces, making dispersal, camouflage, and mobility increasingly important to their survival.

• The Marines are fielding new medical gear to treat casualties when evacuation is delayed.
• New portable blood coolers and warmers will help corpsmen treat wounded troops closer to combat.
• AI-assisted ultrasounds could help front-line medics identify internal injuries and prioritize evacuation.

The US Marine Corps has begun fielding new medical equipment meant to help troops survive when wounded service members can't be quickly evacuated from the battlefield.

The new technology is designed to store blood, identify internal injuries, and treat wounded service members closer to the battlefield as the military prepares for future wars in which casualties may be unable to reach a hospital for hours or even days.

The equipment includes improved, lighter-weight mobile blood coolers, better blood warmers, and small AI-assisted ultrasound devices and is designed to help Navy corpsmen and other providers treat casualties with less bulky equipment and less reliance on extensive medical infrastructure.

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, US air supremacy frequently allowed helicopters to quickly evacuate wounded troops to well-equipped and defended medical facilities near the battlefield.

The proliferation of drone warfare and other technological advancements seen in Ukraine has, however, raised doubts about whether rapid casualty evacuations will be possible in future conflicts. Now, military planners assume that a sophisticated foe is likely to possess tools that could severely disrupt military tasks such as casualty evacuation, resupply, and communications.

Throughout the post 9/11 wars in the Middle East, the military planned on getting wounded troops to advanced medical facilities within an hour, said Navy Capt. Shari Gentry, the Marine Corps' deputy medical officer, speaking to reporters at a media event near Quantico, Virginia. "And we do not foresee that being the case."

The Corps has already begun distributing the systems to medical units, with some equipment reaching troops deployed to the Middle East.

Among the new devices is a portable refrigerator capable of storing approximately 30 units of blood, potentially enough for four seriously wounded Marines, according to military medical guidance. Each battalion aid station is set to receive one, giving medical personnel a supply of blood closer to the battlefield.

Weighing about 60 pounds, it replaces a system that weighs over twice as much and uses rechargeable batteries already common throughout the Marine Corps. The smaller refrigerator allows medical teams to maintain blood supplies without relying continuously on generators or fuel deliveries, said Navy Cmdr. Kyleigh Hupfl, the Corps' clinical lead for Expeditionary Medical Systems.

The capability has already proved useful in the Middle East, Hupfl said. The Corps accelerated delivery after units raised concerns about the reliability of existing refrigeration equipment. One unit told her that the new device allowed it to maintain a ready supply of blood throughout its deployment.

Small deviations in temperature can render blood and other pharmaceuticals unusable. "We need to be able to bring cold chain distribution forward without relying on heavy generators, and we need to be able to do that in a sustainable way," she said.

The service is also fielding new portable blood warmers that can deliver warmed fluids faster than the previous equipment. The warmer works by passing blood through a tube, warming it before it flows into a patient's veins. Such warmth is crucial to prevent hypothermia, a serious complication in injured patients.

Another major change involves portable ultrasound machines equipped with AI-assisted imaging. Previously held only at higher levels of battlefield medical care, the new machines are now being pushed toward the lowest level of tactical care, known as Role 1 facilities, where Navy corpsmen and physicians provide immediate life-saving care for wounded Marines.

The AI software helps users identify anatomical structures on ultrasound images, allowing providers with less ultrasound experience to spot signs of internal bleeding or other injuries that might otherwise be difficult to detect. That information can also help medical teams determine which casualties need evacuation or surgery most urgently, said Navy Chief Petty Officer Matthew Brown, the chief biomedical equipment technician for the Corps' Expeditionary Medical Systems.

"I have 10 people that are hurt. Who should I get out?" Brown said of the dilemma and the new ultrasounds being fielded to front-line medics to address it. "And at the end of the day, that's what's going to save their life."

• The US Army is expanding its ranks of soldiers specialized in space warfare.
• Army space personnel are already deployed to the Middle East, where the US has been fighting Iran.
• More than 600 enlisted soldiers joined the new specialty this year, with more growth planned.

The US Army is expanding its ranks of soldiers trained for space warfare, a growing military specialty that is already supporting American combat operations in the Middle East.

The service established a new enlisted space operations branch in June, creating a dedicated career field for soldiers whose work involves satellites, communications, and the ability to disrupt an adversary's use of space.

While the Space Force and its Guardians oversee a broad range of military space operations in support of the entire US military, the Army has its own dedicated specialists focused on supporting its ground forces with satellite communications, navigation, and other capabilities.

Some space soldiers are already deployed in the Middle East, where American forces have been fighting Iran.

Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, the commander of US Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, DC, this week that roughly 2,500 soldiers from his command are deployed to US Central Command's area of operations. That figure includes both air-defense formations and space specialists.

"Space is really embedded in every single echelon there," Rafferty said, speaking of the job's growing prevalence throughout all levels of military decision-making.

Those space soldiers' responsibilities can range from helping ground forces access satellite communications and navigation systems to disrupting adversary space capabilities, known as "space interdiction." Officials did not provide specific examples or further details on the work being done.

For soldiers on the battlefield, such help is essential for communicating with nearby units and gathering intelligence on enemy movements.

The growing importance of space as a domain of warfare, alongside land, sea, air, and cyberspace, prompted the Army to expand its specialized workforce.

Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey Jackson said at AUSA that the service reviewed several thousand personnel files for its new enlisted space operations branch. The 600 soldiers ultimately selected for the new job came mostly from intelligence, communications, and air-defense specialties, though the career field is open to troops from other backgrounds.

The service plans to continue growing its formalized space community, with around 1,700 space soldiers by the end of next fiscal year.

"When we talk about the branch and the targets, having a couple thousand dedicated folks within the branch between the enlisted and the officer side is a significant contribution across the service," Col. Joseph Mroszczyk, who oversees the integration of emerging space capabilities into Army operations, said during the event.

• The US Army is expanding its use of high-altitude balloons for surveillance and communications.
• The balloons can operate 60,000 to 100,000 feet above Earth, providing space-like capabilities.
• Army officials plan more experiments as the service expands its space warfare ranks.

The US Army is looking to expand its use of high-altitude balloons as the service builds out its capabilities near and in outer space.

These balloons operate in the stratosphere, roughly 60,000 to 100,000 feet above Earth, the space in between where conventional aircraft fly and satellites. Army officials say they see an opportunity to use the balloons to deliver satellite-like surveillance and communication capabilities closer to the battlefield.

Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, commander of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said he was initially skeptical of the technology. He recalled hearing proposals to use high-altitude balloons while serving in what was then Army Futures Command and questioning whether they'd prove practical.

The general's view, however, changed after he saw the balloons hold their positions and conduct high-altitude surveillance during a training exercise.

"I went from nowhere to a huge believer very quickly once I saw them in action," Rafferty said at this week's Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, DC.

The Army is exploring a range of balloon systems for different missions, from surveillance and communications to supporting long-range strikes.

Col. Joseph Mroszczyk, who oversees the efforts to integrate emerging space capabilities into Army operations as the director of Transformation Integration Space Superiority, said at AUSA that he wants a "family of stratospheric systems."

Unlike satellites, which travel set paths in orbit, high-altitude balloons can exploit different wind currents to maneuver or maintain a presence over an area of interest, he said.

Mroszczyk said the Army could use favorable winds to position balloons carrying sensors, communications equipment, or payloads supporting strikes.

"What that enables us to provide is space-like capabilities, really exploiting a transition point between what is normally considered the aerial layer and the space domain," he said.

Operating at those altitudes could give the Army persistent coverage across large areas from the stratosphere without relying exclusively on satellites or conventional aircraft.

The Army plans to conduct multiple experiments involving various stratospheric systems over the coming year, building on tests conducted in Europe and the Pacific. The service has also experimented with the technology alongside combat operations in the Middle East, a senior Army official told Breaking Defense earlier this week.

Those efforts followed the cancellation of a large-scale balloon demonstration planned for the Indo-Pacific last year.

The growing interest in high-altitude balloons comes as the Army expands its role in space and near-space operations, with ground forces increasingly reliant on space-based capabilities for navigation, communications, and intelligence.