Report: US considers deploying US soldiers to Israel to operate THAAD anti-ballistic missile system
The U.S. government is planning to send the anti-ballistic missile defense system THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) to Israel, according to a report from Israel’s N12 news channel on Saturday.
A subsequent report from the Times of Israel stated that a U.S. official confirmed the U.S. is indeed “considering transferring Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defense systems to Israel,” though “a decision has not yet been made.”
The delivery of the THAAD defense system to Israel would involve U.S. military personnel being deployed to Israel to operate it.
The Times of Israel reported that each THAAD battery “consists of six-truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors, radio and radar equipment, and it requires 95 soldiers to operate.”
As Israel plans to respond to the Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack from Iran, the delivery of the THAAD defense system would be intended to assist Israel in defending its citizens against further Iranian attacks.
The Iranian regime has publicly vowed it would retaliate against Israel in the event of an Israeli response.
After its attack earlier this month, the Iranian embassy to the United Nations promised in a post on X that “should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue.”
Israel has promised it will indeed respond to the Oct. 1 Iranian attack, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stating that Israel’s response “will be lethal, precise and above all, surprising. They won’t understand what happened and how.“
The Jerusalem Post noted that the U.S. sent a THAAD battery to Saudi Arabia in 2019 after Iran attacked Saudi oil facilities.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
