UAE Orders New THAAD Launchers From U.S.

The United States has awarded a contract to produce additional launchers for the THAAD missile defense system for the United Arab Emirates, Pentagon announces.

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin Space received an additional order worth more than $211.4 million as part of a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement.

With this new order, the total value of the contract to manufacture THAAD systems for the Emirates has exceeded $1 billion.

Under the additional order, the contractor will produce and deliver new THAAD launchers in Configuration 3 (C3). Work under the contract will be carried out from August 2026 through January 2031.

Back in December 2011, the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement to purchase the THAAD system.

In 2015 and 2016, the UAE trained the first two cohorts of military personnel for the THAAD units at Fort Bliss.

On January 17, 2022, the UAE’s THAAD system was used in combat for the first time, intercepting a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis.

THAAD

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is a missile defense system capable of intercepting ballistic targets outside the atmosphere.

The THAAD system uses a hit-to-kill interception concept, meaning it destroys the target using only the kinetic energy of the missile, without an explosive warhead.

The THAAD interceptor is a single-stage, solid-fuel missile, with its rocket motor developed by Pratt & Whitney.

The missile is equipped with an infrared seeker that operates in the mid- and long-wave infrared bands.

The system uses command-inertial guidance. The interceptor can engage targets traveling at speeds of 3.5–4.8 km/s.

The system’s radar can detect targets at distances of up to 1,000 kilometers.