Integrated Missile Defence Networks (Operational Priorities)

The operational priority of Integrated Missile Defence Networks has emerged as a critical line of effort within the broader strategic priority of NATO’s Integrated Air & Missile Defence (IAMD) . Its rationale stems from the evolving threat environment in which a wide spectrum of airborne threats – from traditional manned aircraft to drones and advanced ballistic or cruise missiles – pose an acute danger to Allied territory, populations and forces.

In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO leaders confronted stark evidence of “the unprecedented scale of Russian air and missile attacks” and the “massive and cruel” use of missiles and drones in modern warfare .

This analysis answers: What role do integrated missile defence networks play within NATO's broader Integrated Air and Missile Defence effort? How do networked sensors, interceptors and C2 counter the spectrum of threats from manned aircraft to drones and ballistic or cruise missiles? Which actors, capability families and industrial-base bottlenecks shape the networked missile defence architecture? What readiness, force-posture and roadmap measures are needed given the scale of Russian air and missile attacks?