Bradley Bowman and Ryan Brobst
The U.S. Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense “Talon” interceptor inventory is unacceptably low, potentially leaving U.S. forces vulnerable in a future conflict. The service reportedly consumed nearly a quarter of its interceptors during the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran in June, and absent aggressive congressional intervention, it will take too long to replenish and expand stocks.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency awarded a $2.06 billion contract modification to produce Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, “Talon” interceptors late last month. That step is laudable but insufficient. Congress needs to help by approving the administration’s request to shift money between programs to purchase more interceptors, providing enough funding to procure the maximum number of interceptors industry can produce next fiscal year and pushing the Pentagon and industry to expand production capacity as quickly as possible, among other steps.
THAAD is a U.S.-produced, land-based missile defense system that uses hit-to-kill interceptors to destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside of the atmosphere. Currently, the U.S. Army possesses eight THAAD batteries, with six launchers per battery and eight interceptors per launcher for a total of 48 interceptors loaded per battery. THAAD forms the upper layer of the Army’s land-based theater ballistic missile defenses, with Patriot comprising the lower layer and both complementing naval interceptors, such as the SM-3 and SM-6.
During June’s 12-Day War, Iran reportedly fired over 500 ballistic missiles at Israel during the conflict and around a dozen at a U.S. airbase in Qatar, destroying a geodesic dome. The United States assisted Israel in shooting down many of the ballistic missiles, including with the multiple THAAD batteries deployed to the Middle East during the war, demonstrating interoperability within a larger architecture.
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