text: FM 7-100.1________________________________________________________________________________
  GOALS
  9-5. Air defense forces and other arms work together to protect ground
  units and other potential targets from attacks by fixed-wing ground-attack
  aircraft, cruise missiles, and armed helicopters. They also try to deny aerial
  reconnaissance platforms, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A
  secondary mission is to protect OPFOR air and airborne or heliborne mis-
  sions over enemy-held territory. OPFOR air defense focuses on destroying or
  disrupting the activities of not only enemy aircraft, but also the command
  and control (C2) systems associated with enemy air operations.
  CONCEPTS
  9-6. The OPFOR’s concept of air defense is not purely defensive in nature.
  Destruction of enemy aircraft is not always linked to military objectives. The
  destruction of high-visibility or unique systems employed by enemy forces of-
  fers exponential value in terms of increasing the relative combat power of the
  OPFOR. However, it also has possibly decisive effects in the information and
  psychological arenas. Losses among these premier systems demonstrate the
  vulnerability of even a technologically superior enemy and may undermine
  enemy morale, degrade operational capability, and inhibit employment of
  other enemy weapon systems. High-visibility (flagship) systems that could be
  identified for destruction could include stealth aircraft, attack helicopters, or
  aerial reconnaissance and surveillance platforms. The OPFOR can also at-
  tack high-payoff targets such as high-technology communications nodes and
  other information systems that support enemy air operations.
  9-7. The OPFOR emphasizes that air defense does not necessarily have to
  destroy aircraft to accomplish the mission, although that is obviously de-
  sirable. The mission is accomplished if air defense prevents enemy aircraft
  from conducting successful air activities. For example, air defense units can
  force enemy aircraft to break off their attacks or to expend their ordnance
  inaccurately without having to destroy the aircraft. In fact, the mere
  presence of active and effective air defense weapon systems can reduce the
  effectiveness of enemy air activities by forcing aircraft to avoid the systems
  or otherwise use less than optimum procedures. The OPFOR can also use air
  defense jammers, GPS jammers, and other electronic warfare (EW) methods
  to disrupt the enemy’s air capability.
  9-8. The role of air defense can be to create opportunity for fire and ma-
  neuver by clearing or minimizing the air threat in the airspace above
  friendly forces. This is especially important when the OPFOR lacks the air
  power or air superiority necessary to create opportunity with air attacks. The
  OPFOR can concentrate the fires of its air defense assets to create a window
  of opportunity for a limited-duration and limited-objective offensive action
  (such as a spoiling attack, counterattack, raid, or ambush). Likewise, air
  defense can enhance the ability to defend or transition from defense to
  offense. Air defense can also mass fires to protect the key reconnaissance
  and fire assets that perform reconnaissance fires.
  9-9. Another important OPFOR concept is that air defense is an integral part of
  combined arms combat. The maneuver unit commander who disregards the enemy
  air threat or fails to properly plan for defending against it risks mission failure.