The U.S. Air Force has begun searching for a surface-to-air missile system to protect its own military facilities from cruise missiles and drones.

The goal of the initiative is to “identify industry partners capable of providing a ground-launcher-based solution for protecting U.S. Air Force facilities,” according to the Request for Information (RFI) published by the service.

The list of requirements in the request points to the need for an air defense system capable of countering a wide variety of threats. In addition to intercepting cruise missiles, the Air Force requires that the systems be able to destroy drones of all categories — from Group 1 (maximum takeoff weight under 9.5 kg) to Group 5 (maximum weight over 600 kg).

This means that a single system must be able to handle the full spectrum of threats: from small kamikaze drones to giant UAVs the size of the Global Hawk.

The initiative comes against the backdrop of powerful strikes by Iranian missiles and drones on American and allied military bases in the Middle East.

Iranian strike systems destroyed a valuable U.S. E-3 Sentry (AWACS) airborne early warning aircraft, damaged at least five KC-135 tankers at air bases in Saudi Arabia, and put a whole range of air defense radars out of action.