It fills the gap, it hits the gap. And what it does, in and above space, it hits the seam below Aegis BMD that hits up in upper space, and it also hits below in the lower atmosphere above Patriot. So it fills that gap there, it’s mobile. It can be placed anywhere in the world. I think you’ve seen it save lives. It protected 1.5 million people two Mondays ago, in Abu Dhabi. That’s phenomenal.
Riki Ellison, “Implications of the First Combat Intercept of THAAD.” February 4, 2022
We witnessed a major milestone in missile defense, when the THAAD system conducted its first intercept of a missile in combat. Missile attacks really are occurring in large numbers with great regularity and conflicts. And the thinking of much of our national security and military organizations is behind on this point… in the United States we’re really under investing substantially in efforts to counter the missile threat. Missile defense also needs to address the volume, diversity, and complexity of today’s cut missile combat, which means far greater requirements for command and control. The recent intercept test in the UAE demonstrates why these things matter so much in terms of the ability to protect civilians, military forces, industries. Missile defense saved lives. For proof, you only need to look at what happened with the first THAAD intercepting combat.
Mr. John Rood, “Implications of the First Combat Intercept of THAAD.” February 4, 2022
So 31 years ago, almost to the day from the first Patriot engagement in combat to the first THAAD engagement in combat, but 31 years, it was only the US army. Now, today we have 14 partner nations in the Patriot family, and more than 70% of the Patriot units in the Arabian Gulf today are with our partner nations. And this is an incredible accomplishment, but with that a 100% of the THAAD capability, combat capability in the Gulf is with the UAE.
And today we finally have a more robust, layered defense from the very high altitude to the lowest terminal altitudes. And we finally have more weapons in our quiver. And to me, no weapons’ system in that arsenal is more important in missile defense than the THAAD.
COL (Ret) Alan Wiernicki, “Implications of the First Combat Intercept of THAAD
Nothing says deterrence like the forward positioning of a THAAD battery. In the army, the THAAD battery led the way. Now we’re talking about joint services and where it really needs to go, the US, isn’t going to fight alone for a long period of time. How do you tie in allies and partners?
COL (Ret) David Shank, “Implications of the First Combat Intercept of THAAD.” February 4, 2022
And also to the degree to which you can have benefit through your peace time stationing, where you’re closer to a level of readiness, the better you are. So take for example, deploying THAAD or other things in Japan. That’s one of the biggest concentrations for US forces for a contingency on the Korean peninsula or elsewhere, take a China scenario. Well, the ability to go and activate a system like that in defense of the local area very quickly without all of the readiness raising and deployments of it, is one of the things that I would, I think we need to spend more time thinking through.
Lt Gen (Ret) Jon Thomas, “Implications of the First Combat Intercept of THAAD.” February 4, 2022
We’re not going to war against Iran because of this. We’re not going to go to war against North Korea because of what we’ve got in South Korea. So this is one of the greatest tools that the taxpayer has. All I question was we don’t need five of them in the US.
Riki Ellison, “Implications of the First Combat Intercept of THAAD.” February 4, 2022
On February 4th, 2022, the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance hosted a virtual discussion on the “Implications of the First Combat Intercept of THAAD.”
Click here to watch the complete roundtable
Click here for a printable version of the transcript
Speakers
Mr. John Rood
Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Department of Defense
Colonel (Ret) Alan Wiernicki
Former Commander
11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade
Colonel (Ret) David Shank
Former Commander
10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command
Lieutenant General (Ret) Jon Thomas
Former Deputy Commander
U.S. Pacific Air Forces
Mr. Riki Ellison
Chairman and Founder
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
