Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III over the weekend authorized the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile battery and its associated United States military crew to Israel, the Pentagon announced today.

The THAAD will be used to bolster Israel’s missile defense capabilities in the wake of Iran’s targeted attacks on that nation on April 13 and Oct. 1st of this year, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told the media. 

An advance team of military personnel and some of the initial components needed to operate the missile battery arrived in Israel yesterday, with additional personnel and components scheduled to arrive in the coming days with a goal of making the THAAD fully capable in the near future, Singh said. 

“This decision was made as part of the broader adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias,” Singh said.  

When asked by the media why a THAAD is suddenly needed in the region now, Singh pointed out that Iran’s attack on Israel earlier this month was nearly double the size of the April 13 attack, and that the earlier attack included mostly unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles being launched at Israel rather than missiles of the ballistic variety. 

“On April 13, we had more of our fighters in the air shooting down UAV’s and cruise missiles, [but] our fighters are not going to engage these types of ballistic missiles,” Singh said, adding that it was U.S. Navy destroyers that engaged Iran’s ballistic missiles during the April attack and that the THAAD is intended to do the same, only from land.  

“Now, should Iran choose to [attack] again with … more ballistic missiles … a THAAD adds capability to Israel’s air defenses,” Singh said. “It can help shoot those [ballistic missiles] down and protect innocent civilians there; and that includes Americans who are in Israel,” she added.  

As Singh noted, Secretary Austin’s decision to deploy a THAAD battery to Israel is in line with a number of steps the DOD has recently taken to bolster the defense posture of U.S. forces throughout the Middle East.

In late September, Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to remain in U.S. Central Command’s area of operations beyond its regular rotation date; and the Pentagon at the same time announced that U.S. forces rotating into the Middle East will augment rather than replace forces already there.  

“We’ve made some of these force posture adjustments in the past [and] we are always nimble and always able to adjust as needed,” Singh said, referencing the THAAD deployment. “[So], this was a decision the secretary decided to make.” 

While there is no specific timeline available for how long the THAAD will be in Israel, Singh did refer to the system as a “temporary provision” of air defense capabilities to assist in protecting Israel.

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