THAAD would add as a further “deterrent” to an attack and not act alone in defence of Israel, said Cedric Leighton, a former US Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst.

When defending against missile threats, two of the most powerful systems in the world stand out: the U.S. THAAD and the Russian S-400. Both are elite air-defense platforms, but they’re built for ...

The THAAD system is shown here being loaded onto a 4th Airlift Squadron C-17 Globemaster III at Fort Bliss, Texas, in Feb. 2019. (Staff Sgt. Cory D. Payne/U.S. Air Force/AP) ...

President Joe Biden placed the anti-missile system, along with about 100 US soldiers, in Israel to help defend the country following Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack on the Jewish state.

The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed Thursday that America’s anti-missile defense system would not be enough to protect Israel from Tehran.

The U.S. also sent a THAAD system in 2019 for training purposes and after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostages.

THAAD, or the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, is a critical part of the U.S. military's layered air defense systems and adds to Israel's already formidable anti-missile defenses.

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system is displayed outside the White House in 2019. The U.S. is sending a THAAD, along with roughly 100 troops to operate it, to Israel.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on December 19, 2024. During the Q&A, he said that the U.S. should deploy the THAAD missile defense system ...