South Korea’s president objected to the United States’ possible removal of U.S. air defense systems from his country to the Middle East, though he noted it will not significantly hinder their ability to deter North Korea.
“It appears that there is controversy recently over U.S. Forces in Korea shipping some weapons, such as artillery batteries and air-defense weapons, out of the country,” President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday in a cabinet meeting where he expressed his opposition to it, according to Reuters, though he noted, it “does not hinder deterrence strategy towards North Korea.”
“While we have expressed opposition to the possible redeployment” of U.S. air defense assets, “the reality is that we cannot fully impose our position,” he added, according to Stars and Stripes.
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The department is reportedly moving parts of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from South Korea to the Middle East, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The military is also moving Patriot missile interceptors from the Pacific to the Middle East to bolster U.S. defenses.
U.S. forces have used both the Patriot interceptor missile systems and the THAAD anti-ballistic missile systems to defend against incoming Iranian projectiles, CENTCOM has said. The THAAD system is largely designed to intercept ballistic missiles, while the Patriot system is meant to protect against lower-tier, shorter-range threats.
A THAAD radar, which is a critical component of the missile defense system, was damaged in Jordan in an Iranian attack during the war, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A THAAD battery requires 90 troops to operate, includes six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors (eight per launcher), one Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control Mode 2 (AN/TPY-2) radar, and a Tactical Fire Control/Communications component.
The U.S. Army has fewer than 10 THAAD batteries in its arsenal.
President Donald Trump and senior military officials have downplayed concerns about diminishing American stockpiles, though they had previously expressed concerns about inventory prior to the start of the war.
“The United States Munitions Stockpiles have, at the medium and upper medium grade, never been higher or better – As was stated to me today, we have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons,” the president said during the early days of the war. “Wars can be fought “forever,” and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries finest arms!). At the highest end, we have a good supply, but are not where we want to be.”
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The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, which build THAADs, announced in late January — about a month before the war began — that they had agreed to quadruple the production of THAAD interceptors from 96 to 400 annually.
There are estimates that the U.S. used about 25% of its THAAD stockpile defending Israel from Iran’s ballistic missiles in the 12-day war last summer.
