By Phil Stewart, Jasper Ward WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States said on Sunday it will send U.S. troops to Israel along with an advanced U.S. anti-missile system, in a highly unusual deployment meant to bolster the country’s air defenses following missile attacks by Iran. U.S. President Joe Biden said the move was meant “to defend Israel,” which is weighing an expected retaliation against Iran after Tehran fired more than 180 missiles at Israel on Oct […]
Tag: THAAD
US OKs $5 bn sale of missile defense systems to Saudi, UAE
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States announced Tuesday the sale of major missile defense systems to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates worth more than $5 billion. The approval was announced two weeks after US President Joe Biden met leaders of the two countries in Saudi Arabia on a trip seen as crucial to strengthen frayed relations with them, and as both nations perceive a heightened threat from Iran. The State Department […]
Chinese, S. Korean leaders meet hoping to smooth tensions
BEIJING, China (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-In will hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, seeking to repair a relationship strained over Seoul hosting a US missile system. Moon’s office has said he hopes to “normalize” ties during the visit after Beijing was angered by the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), installed earlier this year to protect South Korea against threats from the nuclear-armed North. Beijing, which […]
Chronology of North Korean missile development
SEOUL, South Korea — For the second time in less than a month, North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over Japan, days after the international community further tightened its sanctions over its banned weapons and nuclear program. Here’s how the program got to where it is: Late 1970s: North Korea starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometers or 186 miles). Test-fired in 1984 1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (500 km), […]
N. Korean group demands US be reduced to “ashes and darkness,” Japan be “sunken into sea”
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A North Korean organization demanded Thursday that the United States be “beaten to death” like a “rabid dog” for spearheading fresh United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang over its latest nuclear test, adding ally Japan should be “sunken into the sea.” The UN Security Council unanimously imposed an eighth set of sanctions on the North Monday, banning it from trading in textiles and restricting its oil imports, a week after Pyongyang […]
South Korea, US to deploy more anti-missile defenses: Seoul
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – South Korea and the United States will deploy more anti-missile defenses in response to Sunday’s nuclear test by North Korea, Seoul’s defense ministry said Monday. The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system already installed in the South has infuriated China, but the ministry said in a statement that the “Four remaining launchers will soon be temporarily deployed through consultations between South Korea and the US to counter growing nuclear and […]
Videographics: What the US anti-missile defense THAAD can do
The United States deployed its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system – known as THAAD – in South Korea in 2017. The billion dollar system is intended to guard against missile threats from the nuclear-armed North. It’s based in a former golf course 250 kilometers south of Seoul. THAAD is designed to intercept and destroy short and medium-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight. -Once radar detects the incoming threat, the target is […]
Analysis: Can US stop a N. Korea missile strike?
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Thursday it would complete a plan within days to launch a salvo of four intermediate-range missiles towards Guam, the US island territory in the western Pacific. It followed US President Donald Trump’s warning of “fire and fury like the world has never seen” as a war of words with the US escalates tension on the peninsula. Would the North be able to carry out such an exercise? […]
Video: Guam residents express confidence US military can intercept any missile near island
https://youtu.be/koxm-tgFlMM Residents of Guam interviewed by Agence France Presse TV expressed confidence that the US military will be able to protect the island, and intercept any missile that would be launched by North Korea. Francis Abino, Guam resident, said “North Korea does not have a chance to penetrate any missiles into the Mariana Islands, to the Territory of the United States. Due to the fact that the military has major capabilities to intercept anything […]
Infographics: The THAAD missile defense system
Washington has already deployed a powerful anti-missile system, THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), in the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea, Japan and Guam itself. The system uses “hit-to-kill” technology, and it was successfully tested against an IRBM for the first time last month in Alaska. But it is designed to intercept a missile at the final “terminal” stage of its flight, so the South Korean- and Japanese-based batteries are unlikely to be effective. And […]
US to test anti-missile system amid N Korea tensions
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Missile Defense Agency said Friday it would soon test an anti-ballistic missile system, days after North Korea demonstrated its arsenal was capable of striking parts of Alaska. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to be tested is designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight. The MDA said the test against a ballistic missile target would be […]
South Korea to freeze new THAAD deployment pending probe
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – South Korea will suspend any further deployment of a controversial United States missile defense system until an environmental impact assessment ordered by new President Moon Jae-In is finished, his office said Wednesday. Seoul agreed under Moon’s ousted predecessor Park Geun-Hye last year to deploy the powerful missile intercept system to guard against threats from nuclear-armed North Korea despite angry opposition from Beijing, which views it as a threat to its […]





