National Defense Magazine
The U.S. military is considering deploying additional defenses against enemy ballistic missiles in the Pacific region by permanently basing a terminal high altitude area defense system on Guam, the commander of U.S. Army Pacific said Dec. 8.
The Defense Department has been rotationally deploying THAAD to the island since April 2013 in response to North Korean threats. A THAAD battery — which consists of a mobile launcher, interceptors, radar and a fire control network — is capable of shooting down incoming missiles inside or outside the atmosphere with “hit to kill” interceptors, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
“We … are proceeding toward a permanent stationing of that element in Guam,” Army Gen. Vincent Brooks told reporters at a breakfast in Washington, D.C.
Putting THAAD there on a full-time basis would offer several benefits, he noted.
“It’s first about making sure we have a continuous presence” for readiness and deterrence purposes, he said.
Such a move could also have budgetary implications. THAAD unit rotations are currently funded through the base budget rather than supplemental overseas contingency operations funds, Brooks noted. Permanently stationing an element in Guam could save money versus deploying United States-based units on lengthy rotations, the regional Army chief said.
“There’s a fiscal aspect of this also,” he said. “The more cost we have to apply to rotations the fewer the dollars we have to apply to actual operations.”
Ending the extended rotations will also ease the burden on troops and their families and give the Pentagon more flexibility in deploying U.S.-based missile defense to other hotspots, he said.
Brooks did not provide a specific timetable for when THAAD will be permanently based in Guam…
