Sign In
Learn bits
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

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

05 Mar

Arresting women at night

'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in Deepa versus S. Vijayalakshmi and Others ruled that the legal provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which

Read More

05 Mar

Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

'The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) looking to wrap up public consultations on the draft Rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 by Mar

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps