US to Send Israel a Defense System     10/14 06:06

   The United States will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to 
Israel, along with the troops needed to operate it, the Pentagon said Sunday, 
even as Iran warned Washington to keep American military forces out of Israel.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States will send a Terminal High Altitude Area 
Defense battery to Israel, along with the troops needed to operate it, the 
Pentagon said Sunday, even as Iran warned Washington to keep American military 
forces out of Israel.

   Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that Defense 
Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of the THAAD battery at the 
direction of President Joe Biden. He said the system will help bolster Israel's 
air defenses following Iran's ballistic missile attacks on Israel in April and 
October.

   The delivery of the sophisticated missile defense system risks further 
inflaming the conflict in the Middle East despite widespread diplomatic efforts 
to avoid an all-out war. The Iranian warning came in a post on the social 
platform X long associated with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who noted the 
earlier reports that the U.S. was considering the deployment.

   Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon have been clashing since 
Oct. 8, 2023, when the Lebanese militant group began firing rockets over the 
border in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza. Late last month, Israel launched a 
ground invasion into Lebanon.

   Israel is widely believed to be preparing a military response to Iran's Oct. 
1 attack when it fired roughly 180 missiles into Israel.

   In a brief exchange with reporters before leaving Florida on Sunday, Biden 
said he agreed to deploy the THAAD battery "to defend Israel." Biden spoke at 
MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa after making a quick visit to to see the damage 
caused by Hurricane Milton and meet with first responders, residents and local 
leaders.

   Ryder, in his statement, said the deployment "underscores the United States' 
ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in 
Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran."

   It was not immediately clear where the THAAD battery was coming from or when 
it will arrive. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, declined to 
provide any timeline for its arrival, but thanked the U.S. for its support.

   The U.S. deployed one of the batteries to the Middle East along with 
additional Patriot battalions to bolster protections for U.S. forces in the 
region late last year after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas 
militants. Ryder also said that the U.S. sent a THAAD battery to Israel in 2019 
for training.

   It also is not unusual for the U.S. to have a limited number of troops in 
Israel, which the U.S. considers a key regional ally. There generally has been 
a small number of forces there consistently as well as routine rotational 
deployments for training and exercises.

   The THAAD will add another layer to Israel's already significant air 
defenses, which include separate systems designed to intercept long-range, 
medium-range and short-range threats. Israel recently retired its U.S.-made 
Patriot systems after decades of use.

   According to an April report by the Congressional Research Service, the Army 
has seven THAAD batteries. Generally each consists of six truck-mounted 
launchers, 48 interceptors, radio and radar equipment and requires 95 soldiers 
to operate.

   The THAAD is considered a complementary system to the Patriot, but it can 
defend a wider area. It can hit targets at ranges of 150 to 200 kilometers (93 
to 124 miles), and is used to destroy short-range, medium-range and limited 
intermediate-range ballistic missile threats that are either inside or outside 
the atmosphere.

   The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is responsible for developing the system, 
but it is operated by the Army. An eighth system has been funded and ordered 
and is expected to be in the field sometime next year.