The United States confirmed the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in Israel.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced this before his visit to Ukraine.

According to him, the American battery of the THAAD missile defense system has already been deployed in Israel, along with the US military, which will maintain it.

Despite this statement, the Secretary of Defense refused to comment on whether the system was put on alert and whether it was capable of intercepting Iranian missiles.

“The THAAD system is in place,” Austin told reporters when asked.

The Secretary of Defense also added that the US Army had the ability to deploy it to a combat position very quickly, and so far that process had met their expectations.

As previously reported, at the behest of U.S. President Joseph Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of the THAAD missile defense battery in Israel.

The THAAD missile system will strengthen the Israel’s integrated air defense system.

THAAD

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is a missile defense system that allows for the out-of-atmosphere interception of the ballistic targets.

The THAAD system uses the concept of the kinetic interception, which means that only the kinetic energy of the missile is used to hit the target, with no warhead. The THAAD missile is a single-stage solid-fuel missile, the engine of which is developed by Pratt & Whitney.

The missile has an infrared homing head that operates in the middle and far infrared range. The control system is command-and-control. The anti-missile can intercept the targets moving at a speed of 3.5-4.8 km/sec.

The system’s radar station can detect targets at a distance of up to 1000 kilometers.