JP 3-01 Countering Air and Missile Threats - Defense Innovation ...

Counterair Planning
corridors/routes, procedural controls, reference points, restricted operations zones, and
special use airspace.
d. A good example of the use of ACMs for integrating procedural airspace control with
DCA operations is the WEZ. In AD, a WEZ is airspace of defined dimensions within which
the responsibility for engagement of air threats normally rests with a particular weapons
system. WEZs include fighter engagement zone (FEZ), high-altitude missile engagement
zone (HIMEZ), low-altitude missile engagement zone (LOMEZ), and short-range AD
engagement zone (SHORADEZ), each of which is established by an ACM. WEZs are
discussed in more detail in Chapter V, “Defensive Counterair Planning and Operations.”
Refer to JP 3-52, Joint Airspace Control, for more details regarding ACMs, including a
representative airspace control request format for a procedural ACM, and for the list of the
most common ACMs.
7. Other Considerations
a. Maritime strike groups are not static; they are usually a “moving JEZ.” In a littoral
environment, an amphibious operations area may encompass a sector of a land AO and
include a MEZ. In this case, maritime combatants may be restricted by geography when
defending selected coastal assets. Linking land-based SAM systems with search and fire
control data from maritime forces, or vice versa, can result in improved ability to
defend littoral areas of the theater. Without that kind of close coordination between land
and maritime air defenders, a seam may be found in the AMDs.
b. Operations along the edges of WEZs, sectors, or other geographically defined areas
of airspace with separate controlling units/commands may create seams and present
commanders with extensive coordination challenges. Enemy aircraft may cross into adjacent
sectors during engagement or may fly through friendly corridors or attack targets in one
sector or WEZ from an adjacent area. The following are some considerations that may
facilitate coordination:
(1) Establish procedures to coordinate handoffs of flight operations between sectors
and regions that grant permissions to enter and depart airspace and coordinate combat zone
control activities with HN ATC services. A dedicated communications network/line for the
regions/sectors is a must if real-time handoffs are required.
(2) Liaison officers should be located at ATC centers that provide positive control
for areas overlapping or adjacent to AD areas.
(3) Designate buffer zones in which one AD region/sector can authorize
engagement in an adjacent area.
(4) Whenever possible, establish friendly air corridors outside the ranges of
friendly AD forces that rely only on visual ID to reduce the risk of fratricide, since visually
aimed surface weapons often have no capability to readily identify airspace boundaries or
control measures in their portion of the operational environment. The ACA and AADC must
collectively plan to address the issue.
III-9