The US Air Force is buying a new missile as it makes plans to blast through enemy air defenses

• Russia and Ukraine are using their air defenses to deny each other control of the air.
• As a result, their ground forces are fighting without the benefit of air superiority.
• The US wants to avoid that, and it's working on a new missile to take down enemy air defenses.

The Russian and Ukrainian air forces have played a relatively minor role in the war in Ukraine. Both sides have tended to keep their aircraft over friendly territory rather than risk tangling with sophisticated enemy air defenses, such as Ukraine's US-made Patriot and Russia's S-400.