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U.S. Munitions Rationing Drives THAAD Deployment to Israel

(Ynet News) Ron Ben-Yishai - Israel's agreement with the U.S. to deploy the THAAD aerial defense system to the country stems as much from an American necessity as it does from an Israeli need. Israel requires additional American air defenses to counter the hundreds of missiles that Iran could launch when Israel responds to Iran's Oct. 1 attack. The more missiles launched in a single barrage or in a few smaller waves to overwhelm Israel's defense systems, the more launchers, interceptors, and radars are needed. THAAD's capabilities are comparable to those of Israel's Arrow 2. Iran has attacked Israel twice so far. In both attacks, the U.S. aided Israel in intercepting the ballistic missiles, with support from Sixth Fleet destroyers equipped with the Aegis system stationed in the eastern Mediterranean. According to American sources, the need to support Israel during two attacks within a few months led to a dangerous depletion of the Sixth Fleet's interceptor inventory. The U.S. military has seven full THAAD batteries for intercepting ballistic missiles. American THAAD missiles have already been deployed in Israel in the past as part of joint air defense exercises. The U.S. also maintains a missile interception command center in Israel, fully coordinated with the Israeli air defense system. In addition, THAAD's X-band radar provides a significant boost to Israel's ground-based detection capabilities and can also receive data from other batteries in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
2024-10-15 00:00:00
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