THAAD and Patriot Air defence system

• The U.S. will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and additional Patriot air defense missile system battalions to the Middle East.

ABOUT THAAD

• The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or simply abbreviated as THAAD, is a missile defence system that is designed to intercept and destroy short and medium-range ballistic missiles in their final flight phase.
• First proposed in 1987 and then finally deployed in 2008, the THAAD cannot be used as a form of attack against an enemy.
• THAAD is coupled with space-based and ground-based surveillance stations, which transfer data about the incoming missile and inform the THAAD interceptor missile of the threat type classification.
• This system has been designed and manufactured by the USA company Lockheed Martin.

ABOUT PATRIOT AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM

• The Patriot stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target.
• It was initially developed as a system to intercept high-flying aircraft, by U.S. aerospace and defence giant Raytheon Technologies Corp.
• It is a mobile system that usually includes powerful radar, a control station, a power generator, launch stations and other support vehicles.
• The Patriot system’s radar has a range of over 150 km and it can track over 50 potential targets at the same time.
• It has been deployed in 18 countries, including the U.S.