Definition of "air defense" [air defense]

• Defensive measures designed to destroy attacking enemy aircraft or missiles or to nullify their effectiveness (noun)

WordNet. Princeton University. 2010.

• "The result was inevitable: military and psychological stultification, and an increasing pilot and aircraft loss rate as Moscow helped Hanoi to establish the most sophisticated air defense system ever tested in war — a far-flung complex of missiles, ground guns, interceptors, radar, and communications and control centers."
• "Zeppelins were no longer to be feared by ships at sea, but Churchill, now responsible for the air defense of the British Isles, remained apprehensive about the damage airships might do when attacking cities."
• "Admiral Cunningham, Chief of the Mediter - ranean Fleet, pleaded the importance of Malta as a base from which to operate against the Italian lines in Africa and time and time again pointed out the necessity of air defense for the vulnerable island."