The US Department of Defense announced on 13 October 2024 that a US Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery is to be deployed to Israel to bolster the country’s air defences.
“At the direction of the President, [Defense] Secretary [Lloyd J) Austin authorised the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of US military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1,” read a statement issued by Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder.
“The THAAD battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system. This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran. It is part of the broader adjustments the US military has made in recent months to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias.”
A THAAD battery typically includes at least six truck-mounted launchers, each carrying eight interceptors, plus two mobile tactical operations centres and a ground-based X-band AN/TPY-2 radar. The system, which works on a hit-to-kill basis, has the ability to intercept ballistic missiles both inside and outside the atmosphere.
It not immediately clear why the US government has decided to commit a THAAD battery to Israel’s defence at this point, as Israel’s integrated air defence network already includes Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 long-range anti-missile interceptors, the latter of which can, like THAAD, intercept ballistic missiles in space before they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the David’s Sling medium- to long-range anti-missile system. It is possible that the move was made over concerns that Iran, perhaps co-ordinating with its regional proxies, could again seek to overwhelm Israel’s air defences, as it tried to do on 1 October 2024 when around 200 Iranian ballistic missiles were fired. Some of these were not countered by Israel’s air defences despite heading towards territory that should have been defended; dozens appear to have hit the Israeli Air Force’s base at Nevatim, while at least one Iranian missile detonated in Tel Aviv.
Israel has vowed to mount a significant response to that attack, but is so far yet to do so.
However, although the presence of a US THAAD battery in Israel should certainly strengthen the country’s long-range air defences, the need to deploy around 100 US troops to operate it nevertheless leaves the risk that, at some point, US casualties might be sustained at the hands of Iran or its proxies.
As well as the US Army, the THAAD system is also operated by the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
