Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
The Air Defense is the Home Village’s dedicated anti-air defense: it unlocks at Town Hall 4, fires one rocket per second at a single flying target up to 10 tiles away, and ignores ground troops completely. You get up to four, and the max level is 16 at Town Hall 18, where it hits for 700 damage per shot before Supercharges.
What the Air Defense does
Each rocket hits one air unit for its full damage. There is no splash, even though the rockets look like they explode. That makes it deadly against a few big flyers (Dragons, Lava Hounds, flying heroes) and weak against swarms such as Minions or Balloons spread wide. It cannot touch ground troops, which is why ground armies treat it as a free building and air armies treat it as the first thing to kill.
| Range | Attack Speed | Damage Type | Unit Type Targeted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1s | Single Target | Air |
Air Defenses by Town Hall level
| Town Hall | Air Defenses | Max level |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | 3 | 5 |
| 8 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | 4 | 7 |
| 10 | 4 | 8 |
| 11 | 4 | 9 |
| 12 | 4 | 10 |
| 13 | 4 | 11 |
| 14 | 4 | 12 |
| 15 | 4 | 13 |
| 16 | 4 | 14 |
| 17 | 4 | 15 |
| 18 | 4 | 16 (+2 Supercharges) |
Air Defense level stats
Damage per shot equals damage per second because it fires once a second. Costs are in Gold and reflect the current, reduced prices.
| Level | Damage per shot | Hitpoints | Cost (Gold) | Build time | Town Hall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 80 | 800 | 22,000 | 1h | 4 |
| 2 | 110 | 850 | 90,000 | 2h | 4 |
| 3 | 140 | 900 | 210,000 | 6h | 5 |
| 4 | 160 | 950 | 500,000 | 12h | 6 |
| 5 | 190 | 1,000 | 800,000 | 18h | 7 |
| 6 | 230 | 1,050 | 1,000,000 | 1d | 8 |
| 7 | 280 | 1,100 | 1,750,000 | 2d | 9 |
| 8 | 320 | 1,210 | 2,300,000 | 2d 12h | 10 |
| 9 | 360 | 1,300 | 3,400,000 | 3d | 11 |
| 10 | 400 | 1,400 | 5,000,000 | 4d | 12 |
| 11 | 440 | 1,500 | 5,600,000 | 4d 12h | 13 |
| 12 | 500 | 1,650 | 6,500,000 | 5d | 14 |
| 13 | 540 | 1,750 | 8,000,000 | 6d | 15 |
| 14 | 600 | 1,850 | 9,000,000 | 6d 12h | 16 |
| 15 | 650 | 1,950 | 15,000,000 | 7d | 17 |
| 16 | 700 | 2,000 | 26,000,000 | 13d 6h | 18 |
Town Hall 16 to 18 changes
The last three Town Halls each added one level. Level 14 came with Town Hall 16 (December 12, 2023), level 15 with Town Hall 17 (November 25, 2024) and level 16 with Town Hall 18 (November 17, 2025). Level 15 briefly had two Supercharge levels; Town Hall 18 moved them onto level 16. A Supercharged Air Defense hits for 720 at charge 1 and 740 at charge 2, with hitpoints staying at 2,000, and each charge level also earns you 10 Sparky Stones for the Fancy Shop. Supercharges are removed whenever Supercell adds a new regular level, which is what happened to the level 15 charges.
Where to place your Air Defenses
- Spread them out. Four Air Defenses in a tight cluster can be taken down together by a few Lightning Spells and an Earthquake Spell, and they leave whole sides of the base uncovered.
- Keep them a layer or two inside the walls. Giants, Golems and heroes ignore their fire, so an Air Defense on the edge dies early and lets Healers and Balloons in for free.
- Back each one with other anti-air. A single-target Inferno Tower melts Lava Hounds that dive onto an Air Defense, and Seeking Air Mines next to it punish the same Hounds and Dragons.
- Think about splash coverage. A Wizard Tower covering an Air Defense helps against Balloons, but against LavaLoon you may want the Wizard Tower just outside the Air Defense’s area so it keeps hitting Balloons after the Hounds pop.
- Pair them with the Air Sweeper, which deals no damage but pushes flyers back and buys the Air Defense extra shots.
How to take out Air Defenses
- Send Lava Hounds first. They target Air Defenses before anything else, soak the rockets and trigger air traps, which is the core of every LavaLoon attack.
- Spell them down. Lightning and Earthquake together can remove one or two Air Defenses before an air attack starts; at high levels it takes a lot of spells, so check the levels when you scout.
- Use the Archer Queen’s Giant Arrow. Since the late-May 2026 balance changes it deals double damage to Air Defenses and less to other targets, so it is now a dedicated Air Defense sniper.
- Clear them with ground troops before your air wave. Any ground unit is safe from an Air Defense, so a few Giants or a hero can remove an outside one before you deploy Healers or Dragons.
- Overload it. It fires once a second at one target, so a large group of Minions or Balloons reaching it at the same time wins the trade, as long as splash defenses are not covering it.
Air Defense changes
- Jun 18, 2024: build times cut at levels 2-4 and 10-13; costs cut at levels 12-13.
- Nov 25, 2024: level 15 added for Town Hall 17, with two Supercharge levels.
- Feb 10, 2025: build times cut at levels 1 and 2.
- Nov 17, 2025: level 16 added for Town Hall 18; Supercharges moved from level 15 to level 16 with higher damage.
- Late May 2026: Giant Arrow damage against Air Defenses doubled.
Air Defense FAQ
What is the max level Air Defense?
Level 16 at Town Hall 18, with 700 damage per shot and 2,000 hitpoints. Two Supercharge levels push the damage to 740.
How many Air Defenses can you have?
One at Town Hall 4, two at Town Hall 6, three at Town Hall 7 and four from Town Hall 9 onward.
Does the Air Defense hit ground troops?
No. It only targets air units, so any ground troop or hero can destroy it without taking damage from it.
Sources: Supercell: Town Hall 16 update (Dec 2023), Town Hall 17 update (Nov 2024), Town Hall 18 update (Nov 2025), State of Gameplay Part 2 (May 2026); in-game data.
