U.S. Army is considering sending THAAD air defense missile system to the Middle East

Defense & Security News - United States
 
U.S. Army is considering sending THAAD air defense missile system to the Middle East.
The U.S. army is considering sending its THAAD missile defense system to the Middle East, a senior U.S. Army general said on Wednesday, March 5, 2015, citing what he called an urgent need to respond to foes with missile systems and the will to use them.
     
The U.S. army is considering sending its THAAD missile defense system to the Middle East, a senior U.S. Army general said on Wednesday, March 5, 2015, citing what he called an urgent need to respond to foes with missile systems and the will to use them. THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense is an air defensive missile system designed to protect against hostile incoming aerial threats such as tactical and theatre ballistic missiles at ranges of 200 km and at altitudes up to 150 km.
     

General Vincent Brooks, head of U.S. Army Pacific Command, said no decisions had been made about deploying a U.S.-owned Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in the Middle East or South Korea, another region where he saw an urgent need given the threat posed by North Korea.

"The need is there in ... those two places, urgently, because we have adversaries who have capability and they have demonstrated that they are willing to use it," Brooks told Reuters in an interview.

Brooks did not name Iran, but U.S. military officials have raised concerns in the past about Iran's development of longer-range missiles that could reach Israel and potentially Europe.

The U.S. military must weigh its options, given the high cost involved in deploying the THAAD weapon system, built by Lockheed Martin Corp, Brooks said. He said the U.S. military also continued to explore options for lower-cost systems to defend against lesser threats, but gave no details.

The U.S. Army is preparing to swap out a THAAD battery that has been operating in Guam for about a year. It has four active THAAD batteries, with a fifth to start training this year.

Sources familiar with the THAAD system said they did not believe a deployment to the Middle East was imminent.

Riki Ellison, founder of the nonprofit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said putting a THAAD system in the Middle East would help cover potential gaps in the existing coverage of the area such as provided by the Aegis system on U.S. destroyers and Patriot missile batteries.

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a key element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), is designed to defend U.S. troops, allied forces, population centers, and critical infrastructure against short and medium range ballistic missiles. Each THAAD system is comprised of five major components: interceptors, launchers, a radar, a fire control unit, and THAAD-specific support equipment.