What is THAAD? The US is stationing a state-of-the-art air defense battery in Israel

The US is sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Israel to guard against further Iranian airstrikes, as the possibility of attacks between Israelis and Iran over the war-torn region poses a major threat.

The Pentagon announced Sunday that it is sending a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to Israel, along with a select number of personnel, to defend against Iran after Tehran launched two airstrikes on Israel this year had started. Around 100 US troops will reportedly travel to the Middle East with the advanced air defense system.

Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel earlier this month. Israel Defense Forces said most were intercepted, although some landed on Israeli territory, including air bases. The IDF said no major damage was caused.

Israel is believed to be weighing its response to Iran’s barrage. U.S. officials believe Tel Aviv has reduced the number of Iranian sites it could target, NBC News reported Saturday; These are probably Tehran’s military and energy infrastructure, but not nuclear facilities. According to the report, a final decision has not yet been made. The Israeli Defense Ministry declined to comment on Sunday.

Israel had regularly targeted senior leaders allied with Tehran, including killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Tehran launched a combination of missile and drone attacks on Israel in mid-April, marking the first time Iran had attacked the Israelis directly from Iranian soil. More than 300 drones and missiles were deployed after Tehran said it would retaliate for an attack on its consulate in Syria two weeks earlier that it blamed on Tel Aviv.

Seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in Damascus, Syria’s capital and largest city. Israel has not commented on the attack.

The U.S. was involved in repelling both Iranian attacks on Israel, and the Pentagon described the Iranian airstrike in October as “nearly twice the size” of the April airstrike.

Two U.S. destroyers fired “a dozen interceptors” at Iranian ballistic missiles this month, according to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.

U.S. support for Israel over the past year has been significant and repeatedly described as “ironclad” by Washington. The Israeli Defense Ministry announced in late August that the United States had delivered more than 50,000 tons of military supplies to Israel, including armored vehicles, ammunition and medical equipment, arriving in more than 100 ships and 500 aircraft.

“The THAAD battery will expand Israel’s integrated air defense system,” Ryder said Sunday. “This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to defending Israel and defending Americans in Israel from further ballistic missile attacks by Iran.”

The THAAD is an advanced system designed to counter short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats. It can intercept missiles both inside and outside the Earth’s atmosphere during the so-called final phase of flight, the last phase before a warhead hits or detonates a target.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it can cover a larger area than the US-made Patriots. It consists of four main parts, the CSIS think tank said: a launch vehicle, an interceptor, a radar and a fire control system.

The US military has seven THAAD batteries, with an eighth expected to enter the hands of the US Missile Defense Agency in 2025. The first THAAD battery has been operational since 2008 and the seventh has been deployed since late 2016, according to defense giant Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the THAAD systems.

The US previously deployed a THAAD battery to the Middle East after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its attacks a year ago on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and leaving about 250 hostage in Gaza, which borders southern Israel , were taken.

Israel subsequently declared war on Hamas in the strip and launched intensive airstrikes and ground operations that devastated the area. According to Hamas-run health authorities, more than 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israeli operations began.

War has also broken out in southern Lebanon between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, a major militant force and influential political party backed by Tehran that has been engaged in a shootout with Israel for a year in what it describes as solidarity with Hamas.

Israel has been engaged in ground operations across its northern border for around two weeks and has intensified airstrikes across Lebanon, including in and around Beirut.

Washington also deployed a THAAD battery to Israel in 2019 during a training exercise.