United States deploy THAAD air defense missile system in Guam response North Korea threats 0404131

Posted On
a
 

Defence & Security News - United States
 
 
Thursday, April 4, 2013, 08:36 AM
 
United States deploy THAAD air defense missile system in Guam in response of North Korea threats.
The United States announced Wednesday, April 3, 2013, that it was speeding the deployment of THAAD an advanced air defense missile system to Guam in the next few weeks. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, is stationed at Fort Bliss but officials would not say if the unit being deployed will be from here.
     
The United States announced Wednesday, April 3, 2013, that it was speeding the deployment of THAAD an advanced air defense missile system to Guam in the next few weeks. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, is stationed at Fort Bliss but officials would not say if the unit being deployed will be from here.
The THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile system is an easily transportable defensive weapon system to protect against hostile incoming threats such as tactical and theatre ballistic missiles at ranges of 200 km and at altitudes up to 150 km.
     

"The Department of Defense of United States will deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) Ballistic Missile Defense system to Guam in the coming weeks as a precautionary move to strengthen our regional defense posture against the North Korean regional ballistic missile threat," the Pentagon said in yet another unusual announcement of the deployment of such a strategic weapon.

Guam, located in the West Pacific, is a territory of the United States and the defensive weapon system is being sent there to "strengthen defense capabilities" for U.S. citizens and service members stationed there, according to the Department of the Defense.

"This deployment will strengthen defense capabilities for American citizens in the U.S. Territory of Guam and U.S. forces stationed there," the Pentagon said in a press release.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called North Korea a "real and clear danger and threat" to U.S. allies South Korea and Japan.

"They have nuclear capacity now," Hagel said. "They have missile delivery capacity now."

He specifically said that the North Koreans have threatened "our base in Guam, threatened Hawaii, threatened the West Coast of the United States."

"We have to take those threats seriously," Hagel said.

The THAAD is a land-based air defense missile system that includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles, tracking radar and an integrated firing control system,