Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is a United States missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The system employs truck-mounted launchers that fire projectiles, known as interceptors, which travel at supersonic speeds to collide with incoming missiles, thereby neutralizing threats before they can reach their targets. THAAD operates effectively in a missile's terminal phase, either within or outside the Earth's atmosphere, and is capable of identifying threats from a distance of up to 621 miles (999 kilometers).
Developed by Lockheed Martin, THAAD's program began in the early 1990s, with its first deployment occurring in 2008. The system has since been strategically positioned in several locations, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and South Korea, to bolster regional defense against missile attacks, particularly from North Korea. Its deployment, especially in South Korea, has been contentious, raising tensions with neighboring countries like China and North Korea. China opposed the installation due to concerns about the system's proximity to its borders, while North Korea perceived it as a provocation. Despite these tensions, the United States maintains that THAAD is essential for the protection of its forces and allies.
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is the United States' antiballistic missile defense system. It is capable of shooting down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles from a maximum distance of about 125 miles (201 kilometers) away. THAAD operates by firing projectiles from truck-mounted launchers at incoming missiles. The projectiles travel at high speeds toward their targets and eventually destroy them by colliding with them. Because the projectiles are not nuclear equipped, incoming nuclear missiles are unlikely to release their nuclear energy upon destruction.
Leaders in the US government and armed forces first acknowledged that the United States needed an antimissile system in the mid-1980s. The government contracted American aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin to develop such a system in the early 1990s. Development lasted into the late 2000s. The US Army acquired its first THAAD battery in 2008. The United States later deployed batteries to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and South Korea. The presence of THAAD in South Korea angered the Chinese government, which disliked having the American missile defense system so close to its borders.
Background
By the mid-1980s, the threat of missile attacks from enemies around the world convinced the United States that it needed to develop an antiballistic missile defense system. Ballistic missiles are rocket-propelled weapons that transport conventional or nuclear bombs to targets over short, medium, intermediate, or long distances. The United States did not actually begin pursuing this kind of system until the early 1990s. In 1991, during the Gulf War (1990–1991), Iraq launched short-range scud missiles at American targets and others. Having no defense against such attacks, the United States began researching the prospect of a missile defense system.
The US government contracted American aerospace technology company Lockheed Martin to develop this system in 1992. The product was ready for testing in 1995. Results were disappointing at first. Lockheed's prototype projectile launcher failed to strike test targets numerous times between 1995 and 1999. Lockheed later reported to the US Congress that its continued failures had resulted from the desire to produce a prototype quickly in accordance with its development schedule. The company's haste reduced the project's quality control, which led to faulty designs and, ultimately, product failure.
Lockheed devoted more time to design and development in the late 1990s. This resulted in two successful interceptor tests in 1999. Lockheed built upon its remodeled project design, and the program continued into the late 2000s.
With development nearing completion, Lockheed agreed to its first production contract with the US government in early 2007. The United States expected to deploy the defense system by 2012, but Lockheed delivered its product ahead of schedule. The first battery of the THAAD system was transported to Texas's US Army post at Fort Bliss in 2008. With THAAD now operational, the United States began deploying the system's batteries to strategic locations around the world.
Overview
Physically, THAAD consists of numerous truck-mounted missile launchers that can be transported nearly anywhere in the world. The defense system features five main parts that allow it to operate: radar, launchers, interceptors, fire control units, and support equipment.
As stated in its name, THAAD is designed to intercept ballistic missiles in their terminal phase, either inside or outside Earth's atmosphere. A missile's terminal phase is the period at which the missile has reached its maximum altitude and is returning to Earth toward its target. THAAD is capable of intercepting only short-range, medium-range, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The system is not advanced enough to shoot down long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
THAAD functions in a systematic process. The system's radar first detects inbound enemy missiles. It can identify threats up to about 621 miles (999 kilometers) away. The military authorities monitoring the radar confirm that the incoming object is indeed a hostile missile. THAAD then fires its own projectile, known as an interceptor, from its truck mounting. With some exceptions, most THAAD batteries consist of six trucks, with each truck holding eight interceptors, for a total of forty-eight interceptors to a battery. Interceptors are about 20 feet (6 meters) long and weigh nearly 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms).
THAAD can fire its interceptors at a missile from a maximum distance of about 125 miles (201 kilometers) away. Functioning like any other such missile, the interceptors are propelled by rocket thrust and are capable of reaching a maximum altitude of about 93 miles (150 kilometers). They travel toward their targets at the supersonic speed of approximately 6,260 miles (10,074 kilometers) per hour.
The ultimate goal of THAAD is to destroy incoming missiles through kinetic energy, or the force of an object in motion. The considerable flight speed of the interceptors is intended to propel them directly into missiles, destroying them harmlessly in the air before they can reach their targets. The interceptors are believed to be capable of destroying nuclear-tipped missiles as well as conventional ones. Since the THAAD interceptors are not outfitted with nuclear warheads, the force of impact is meant to destroy the missiles but leave the warheads intact, thereby eliminating the missiles' nuclear threat.
In the years after THAAD's initial deployment, the United States also deployed the system to key allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and South Korea. The deployment of THAAD in South Korea was particularly controversial among the country's regional neighbors of China and North Korea. South Korea received its THAAD deployments in mid-2017 for the purposes of protecting itself from a potential nuclear missile launch by North Korea. The deployment infuriated China, which opposed the presence of an American missile defense system in range of its own weapons. Additionally, North Korea claimed the deployment was a US attempt to provoke war.
The United States defended the THAAD deployment in South Korea, saying the system was necessary to protect both US and South Korean forces from North Korean missiles. In response to a North Korean ICBM test in mid-2017, the United States tested THAAD on one of its own ballistic missiles. THAAD successfully destroyed it in mid-flight. Later in 2017, in the interest of maintaining friendly diplomatic and economic relations with South Korea, China agreed to overlook the issue of THAAD being so close to its borders. In 2024, the system was sent to Israel to help defend the country from attacks by Iran.
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