South Korea and US to begin negotiations for deployment of THAAD missile after North Korea tests 10702162

Defence & Security News - South Korea
 
South Korea and US to begin negotiations for deployment of THAAD missile after North Korea tests.
South Korea and the United States have agreed to begin negotiations for the deployment of the advanced American air defense system THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) on South Korean soil, officials said Sunday, despite opposition from China and Russia.
     
South Korea and the United States have agreed to begin negotiations for the deployment of the advanced American air defense system THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) on South Korean soil, officials said Sunday, despite opposition from China and Russia. During the test of November 1, 2015, the US THAAD system successfully intercepted two air-launched ballistic missile targets.
     
The announcement on the controversial defense system, THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, was given just hours after North Korea launched a long-range missile as part of the continual push of its intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
 
"The U.S. and South Korea have decided to start official discussion on the possibility of U.S. Forces Korea's deployment of THAAD as part of measures to upgrade the South Korea-U.S. alliance's missile defense posture against North Korea's advancing threats," Yoo Jeh-seung, deputy minister for policy, said in a joint briefing with Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, the commander of USFK's Eighth Army.
 
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) element provides the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) with a globally transportable, rapidly deployable capability to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or outside the atmosphere during their final, or terminal, phase of flight.

On 28 May 2008, the U.S. Army activated Alpha Battery, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Fort Bliss, Texas. The Unit is part of the 32nd Army Air & Missile Defense Command. It has 24 THAAD interceptors, three THAAD launchers based on the M1120 HEMTT Load Handling System, a THAAD Fire Control and a THAAD radar. Full fielding began in 2009.

The THAAD is highly effective against the asymmetric ballistic missile threats and uses hit-to-kill technology to destroy an incoming target. THAAD is able to intercept incoming missiles both inside and just outside of the Earth’s atmosphere at a range of 200 kilometers, which makes it difficult for enemy missiles to launch decoys and countermeasures to fool the THAAD interceptor.