A method for operating a ground-based anti-aircraft system includes providing a group of main system components containing a sensor system, a tactical operation control and an effector system. Combat target sensor data are passed from the sensor system to the tactical operation control, processed therein and passed in processed form from the tactical operation control to the effector system, using the data to combat the target. A central integration module having a converter unit and a central data distributor allows differently constructed main system components to be connected. Data from all main system components are routed to the central data distributor by the converter unit and converted therein from component protocol into system-internal data protocol, and passed from the central data distributor to one or more main system components, through the converter unit, converting the distributed data back from system-internal data protocol into component protocol.