What is the THAAD?
THAAD stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. It is a ballistic missile defense system that covers an area of hundreds of miles. The exact coverage radius is classified, but it is a potent defense system, particularly when integrated with other components of our missile shield. More on those later. THAAD missiles do not carry explosive warheads - they rely on kinetic strikes or "hit-to-kill" - basically, the projectile collides with the oncoming missile and destroys it that way.
Ostensibly, China is upset by the deployment to the Korean Peninsula because the THAAD could be used to counter their own missile program. This likely has nothing to do with the actual reason that China fought to keep it away. If it came to a shooting war between the United States and China, China would realistically be able to launch enough missiles and electronic attacks to overwhelm the THAAD system long enough to destroy it. The real reason that China is upset about the THAAD deployment is that with the launcher vehicles comes the AN/TPY2 radar system, one of the most powerful X-Band radar systems in the world.
From Raytheon's website:
"The AN/TPY-2 is a missile-defense radar that can detect, classify and track ballistic missiles. It operates in the X band of the electromagnetic spectrum, which enables it to see targets more clearly, and it has two modes – one to detect ballistic missiles as they rise, and another that can guide interceptors toward a descending warhead. The radar meets the need of the United States and its allies for proven, affordable defense to keep pace with the world’s ballistic missile threat. There are more than 6,300 ballistic missiles outside the control of the United States, NATO, Russia and China, according to public U.S. intelligence estimates, and rogue regimes are proliferating and improving nuclear, chemical and biological weapons1.
The first step in defeating a ballistic missile that has been fired is “seeing” it. And that’s where Raytheon’s AN/TPY-2 X-Band radar comes in. A critical element in the Ballistic Missile Defense System, AN/TPY-2 continually searches the sky for ballistic missiles. Once it detects a missile, it acquires it, tracks it, and uses its powerful radar and complex computer algorithms to discriminate between the warhead and non-threats such as countermeasures.
Depending on the needs of the warfighter, the AN/TPY-2 radar can be deployed in two different modes. In forward-based mode, the radar is positioned near hostile territory, and acquires ballistic missiles in the boost (ascent) phase of flight, shortly after they are launched. It then tracks and discriminates the threat, and passes critical information required by decision makers to the Command and Control Battle Management network.
When the AN/TPY-2 radar is deployed in terminal mode, the radar’s job is to detect, acquire, track and discriminate ballistic missiles in the terminal (descent) phase of flight. The terminal-mode AN/TPY-2 also leads the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ballistic missile defense system by guiding the THAAD missile to intercept a threat.
AN/TPY-2 has a record of flawless performance against all classes of ballistic missiles. In forward-based mode, it has proven capability against short-, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. In terminal mode, AN/TPY-2 has demonstrated its ability to enable an intercept of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
Raytheon has delivered ten AN/TPY-2s to date, and is in the process of building two more for the U.S. customer, and two for international partners. These radars are an important step in the right direction to meeting the growing U.S. and international demand for an affordable, proven system that can stay ahead of the increasing ballistic missile threat."
The first step in defeating a ballistic missile that has been fired is “seeing” it. And that’s where Raytheon’s AN/TPY-2 X-Band radar comes in. A critical element in the Ballistic Missile Defense System, AN/TPY-2 continually searches the sky for ballistic missiles. Once it detects a missile, it acquires it, tracks it, and uses its powerful radar and complex computer algorithms to discriminate between the warhead and non-threats such as countermeasures.
Depending on the needs of the warfighter, the AN/TPY-2 radar can be deployed in two different modes. In forward-based mode, the radar is positioned near hostile territory, and acquires ballistic missiles in the boost (ascent) phase of flight, shortly after they are launched. It then tracks and discriminates the threat, and passes critical information required by decision makers to the Command and Control Battle Management network.
When the AN/TPY-2 radar is deployed in terminal mode, the radar’s job is to detect, acquire, track and discriminate ballistic missiles in the terminal (descent) phase of flight. The terminal-mode AN/TPY-2 also leads the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ballistic missile defense system by guiding the THAAD missile to intercept a threat.
AN/TPY-2 has a record of flawless performance against all classes of ballistic missiles. In forward-based mode, it has proven capability against short-, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. In terminal mode, AN/TPY-2 has demonstrated its ability to enable an intercept of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
Raytheon has delivered ten AN/TPY-2s to date, and is in the process of building two more for the U.S. customer, and two for international partners. These radars are an important step in the right direction to meeting the growing U.S. and international demand for an affordable, proven system that can stay ahead of the increasing ballistic missile threat."
The AN/TPY2 radar system integrates with Aegis and Patriot antimissile systems to form a layered defense apparatus that gives our military a much better chance at intercepting an incoming missile. This design is perfect for rogue regimes like North Korea, but as I stated earlier, it would likely be ineffective in the event of all out warfare between the United States and a near-peer (read: China / Russia) because they have the capability to launch many more missiles than we could reliably intercept.
Back to China. They hate the idea of the AN/TPY2 radar system being in South Korea because the range penetrates far into Chinese territory and they view it as a way for the United States to keep track of their military movements. This is technically true, the radar does have a range of at least 600 miles at very high altitudes - when deployed in forward-based mode. But, the X-Band in South Korea will be installed in terminal-mode to constantly scan for ballistic missile threats, not in forward-based mode to scan deep into China. Granted, it could be reconfigured at a later date and be used for other purposes, but this system inherently poses no risk to China.
What does THAAD do?
Better asked, what can THAAD -not- do? There is a misconception in the media that this is some kind of super, end-all-be-all ballistic missile defense weapon. It is very advanced, but it is not a golden bullet. CNN posted a misleading graphic regarding THAAD capabilities that I shared on Twitter earlier this evening. It suggested that as a missile was launched by North Korea, THAAD would detect and intercept, followed by the Aegis system if THAAD was unable, and then followed by the Patriot system if Aegis was unable. THAAD is a "terminal" phase kill vehicle. It doesn't target ballistic missiles in their boost phase. It's literally in the name. "Terminal" High Altitude Area Defense. The Aegis system would realistically be the first to engage a missile that the United States, South Korea or Japan perceived as a threat, seeing as it has the capability to intercept a missile during it's midcourse phase. The Patriot batteries, although effective, are a last resort. They are a short-range point-defense weapon. Here's a graphic that will probably explain it better than I can.
As you can see from the graphic, there are 3 main phases to every ballistic missile launch: boost phase, midcourse and terminal phase. The Aegis system that is deployed on US and Japanese ships, and a few select on-land locations is designed to engage a missile in the late boost / midcourse phase. The THAAD is designed to intercept a missile in the early terminal phase. The Patriot is one of the last lines of defense and is designed to intercept a missile in the late terminal phase. These systems are all integrated and talk to one another, which gives the United States the capability to track the ballistic missile from the beginning of the boost phase, all the way through the end of the terminal phase, to the point that it hits is target or is destroyed.
There is lots of talk in the media (mostly by former intelligence community and military officials) about our "left-of-launch" capability. Simply stated, this is our capability to interfere with a missile before its launch, via a strike on the launch pad - highly unlikely, although it makes for interesting reporting, or electronically disrupting their tests with hacking and / or jamming capability. To be clear, I don't have any direct evidence or knowledge that we are electronically interfering with North Korea's missile program, but I would frankly be surprised if we aren't, and personally, I'm all for it. The more missile failures they have, the less likely we are to go to war.
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