Developing innovative technology is key to defending against adversaries, and directed energy and space are two areas the United States must continue investing in to defeat future threats, the leader of Army Space and Missile Defense Command said July 23.

We have entered an age where threats and adversaries can come at you from all angles, which the United States must be prepared for, said Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, commanding general of Army Space and Missile Defense Command. It is also a landscape that is constantly changing, so adaptation and alterations are always being sought.

“The evolution of the threat, the pace is so fast,” Gainey said during an Association of the United States Army event. “We would introduce capability into a theater and as soon as it's introduced, we'll already see countermeasures being implemented. From an integrated air missile defense perspective, the modernization is going to be key.”

In response to this constantly evolving threat, industry is developing a variety of solutions for the future battlefield, such as directed energy weapons, which use electromagnetic energy to disrupt or damage a target, and non-kinetic capabilities such as cyber, electromagnetic spectrum or space systems, Gainey said.

“Right now, we have a directed energy platoon of Strykers integrated into one of our short-range air defense units, and we're continuing to learn,” Gainey said. “We are watching directed energy, and we're finding what's the right sweet spot for sustainment and ability to get after the threat.”

New technology and innovation can also help ease manpower stress, he said.

“We ask a lot of our great soldiers in the air missile defense community,” Gainey said. “The demand exceeds the capability that we have right now.”

The hope is that implementing directed energy weapons and other emerging technologies will ease the strain on soldiers.

“As we modernize our force … we're going to be able to do more with less and therefore reduce the amount of soldiers that we have to push forward in theater to be able to do the same mission set,” Gainey said.

In terms of non-kinetic capabilities, space will be a key factor in missile defense modernization, Gainey said. The command is working to ensure that understanding how to leverage space-based systems is part of the training strategy for everyone.

“So to do that, we as [Army Space and Missile Defense Command] developed [an] Army space training strategy that essentially focuses on how you get space capability and space awareness all the way down to the tactical level,” Gainey said.

Although modernization is key, it costs money. There is so much to do from a space and missile defense aspect, which causes challenges from a budgetary perspective, Gainey said.

“We're working closely with industry to develop lower cost type capability, but my bottom line is we have to be able to defeat the threat first,” Gainey said. “I'd much rather be in [the] position of forcing you to bring the cost down than not having the capability to defeat a certain threat.”

The Army must prioritize fielding the necessary capability to defeat adversary capabilities, and then it can work on “bringing the cost down,” he said. “I think industry is good at responding to that.”