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Defence & Security
Mahesh

15/10/24 09:35 AM IST

Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system(THAAD)

In News
  • A highly advanced American missile defence system, along with US troops to operate it, will now be present in Israel.
About THAAD
  • A THAAD battery consists of 95 soldiers, six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors (eight per launcher), radar surveillance and radar, and a tactical fire component, according to a paper by the US Congressional Research Service.
  • THAAD provides a “rapidly deployable capability against short-range (up to 1,000 km), medium-range (1,000–3,000 km), and limited intermediate-range (3,000–5,000 km) ballistic missile threats inside or outside the atmosphere during their final (terminal) phase of flight,”.
  • Employing “hit-to-kill” technology to destroy threat missiles, the THAAD can defend a larger area than the older Patriot Air and Missile Defense System.
  • It has been developed by Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Significance
  • This  means that a highly advanced American defence system, along with an “associated crew of US military personnel” will be directly stationed in Israel, at a time when the situation in West Asia is already highly tense.
  • The THAAD being stationed in Israel, however, is a more significant step.
  • THAAD is not only very expensive to use, it requires trained US personnel to operate it.
  • The export model of PATRIOT is estimated to cost nearly USD 1 billion, THAAD’s price tag for a single battery is estimated at approximately USD 2.5 billion.”
  • Israel already has an advanced, multi-tiered air defence system, and the THAAD significantly bolsters it.
  • Iran does have one advantage, however — it spends much less on firing missiles than Israel and the US do on intercepting them.
Source- Indian Express

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