Point defense, resilient networks key to Air Force operations under attack, Wilsbach says
NewsSeptember 15, 2026
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland. Point defense must become an enduring Air Force capability as the service prepares to sustain combat operations from installations facing missile and uncrewed-aircraft attacks, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said during the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference on Sept. 14.
Wilsbach framed his remarks around three requirements for the Air Force: being “ready to fight,” “built to endure,” and “integrated to win.” Drawing on recent operations, he described airmen continuing to launch aircraft, move weapons and equipment, conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and manage command-and-control operations while bases were under attack. Later in the speech, he pointed specifically to airmen defending their installation and said their experience showed “why point defense must become an enduring capability.”
The requirement extends beyond individual defensive weapons, Wilsbach indicated, with sustained operations depending on infrastructure, communications, logistics, and adaptable systems that remain available during attacks. “We need resilient installations, sufficient weapons and fuel, connectivity, and adaptable systems,” he said. “But resilience alone is not enough. We must connect these capabilities so success in one part of the force creates advantage across the whole.”
Wilsbach cited the scale of the information and command-and-control challenge during the operations. More than 4,000 dynamic targets had to be “found, identified, validated, and engaged,” he said, with remotely piloted aircraft, airborne ISR platforms, cyber operators, and space professionals contributing information for commanders. He also described a command-and-control team supporting operations involving more than 1,000 one-way attack drones and 1,200 enemy ballistic missile threats. During one combat search-and-rescue operation, the force integrated 176 aircraft, including fighters, bombers, tankers, intelligence platforms, and Air Force Special Operations Command forces.
The speech also highlighted how sensors and remotely piloted aircraft can contribute to keeping a base operational during an attack. Wilsbach described an MQ-9 crew launching a combat sortie while missiles were hitting its airfield and later turning the aircraft’s sensors back toward the installation “to inspect the runway for damage and determine whether operations could continue.” He said the same sensors used to locate the enemy were then helping airmen determine whether they still had a usable runway.
Wilsbach tied those experiences to a broader need to connect platforms, sensors, personnel, and decision-making across the force. “Fighters, bombers, tankers, ISR platforms, cyberspace, and rescue forces became more effective when we integrate them across time, distance, and domain,” he said. “The integration doesn't happen on its own.”
He returned to that theme at the end of his remarks, saying the service needs “weapons, fuel, infrastructure, logistics, and connectivity to sustain combat power under attack.”
“And we need to embrace AI and connect our capabilities across platforms, career fields, services, and allies, so we can make decisions and generate effects faster than the adversary,” Wilsbach said.
