what is the THAAD defense system, soon to be deployed in Israel by the United States?

Great reinforcement for Israel. The Pentagon announced on Sunday the deployment within the Jewish state of the American high-altitude anti-missile defense system THAAD (Termination of High Altitude Area Defense). The latter will be operated by US military personnel in the event of missile attacks from Iran.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “authorized the deployment of a THAAD battery and a team of US military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following unprecedented attacks on Israel on April 13 and again on October 1,” a spokesman said Pentagon General Pat Ryder i. statement. It states that a THAAD battery was already deployed in Israel after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, and before that in 2019.

Medium range (3,000 to 5,000 km)

But concretely, what is this defense system and what are the benefits for the Jewish State? If the Americans authorized their deployment, this follows the attacks carried out by the Islamic Republic on April 13 and October 1. The first was a 90% interception by the Iron Dome, Israel’s anti-missile shield. On the other hand, Israel was only able to destroy 79% of the missiles launched during the second attack, as shown by a study by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), forwarded by The Continent.

It is therefore to intercept all massive attacks from Iran that the United States, Israel’s ally, decided to deploy this defense system. Because of the latter it is possible to stop attacks at high altitude. In detail, the THAAD is capable of destroying short-range (up to 1,000 km), medium (1,000 to 3,000 km) and intermediate (3,000 to 5,000 km) ballistic missiles.

A significant advantage for Israel. Because, with its iron dome, the Hebrew State can protect itself mainly against low-altitude missiles, which are generally used by Hezbollah and Hamas. However, this shield is less effective against longer range attacks.

Works kinetically

With the model of hit-to-killTHAAD allows it. Unlike other defense systems, the American battery works kinetically. Instead of exploding near the missiles, it intercepts them by colliding with them. Unlike other shields, this one can be effective within a 200 km radius around the launchers and up to 150 km altitude, allowing missiles to be destroyed in and out of the atmosphere.

How does this look? Each truck-mounted THAAD has a radar and six different launchers, each with eight interceptors. In total, the United States has seven such batteries and, to operate them, 95 soldiers are needed, as stated in the Report of the Congressional Research Service. Which will be the case for the THAAD that the Americans sent to Israel. The Pentagon has specified that a crew of American soldiers will be deployed at the same time as the defense system.