THAAD’s Israel deployment proves efficient however costly
As half of the present memorandum of understanding, the US invests $3.3 billion yearly in army support to Israel however within the operation in opposition to Iran, US help reached an particularly excessive quantity. In keeping with the “Bulgarian Army” web site, in the course of the 12 days of preventing between Israel and Iran, the US has launched about 15%-20% of all THAAD system interceptors on the earth in opposition to Iranian ballistic missiles, costing greater than $800 million.
THAAD was developed by Lockheed Martin. The system is designed to intercept ballistic missiles, and straight hits threats to intercept them (Hit to Kill). THAAD is exclusive in its design to intercept the missiles within the terminal part, often at altitudes of 40-150 km, utilizing a sophisticated radar from Raytheon. Every THAAD battery has 6-8 launchers, with eight interceptors in every.
The US system has maneuvering capabilities, just like Israel’s David’s Sling, which is designed for mid-range threats, with THAAD capable of monitor as much as seven targets directly. In Israel, THAAD is designed to supply safety in opposition to the in depth barrages launched by the Iranians. When figuring out threats with radar, the Israeli air protection system examines its sort, velocity and peak, and in line with all of those – one of many techniques is activated.
The principle drawback of the THAAD system
Two THAAD batteries have been deployed in Israel by the US. The primary battery arrived in October 2024 and the second in April 2025, and their operation, together with the fee, is the duty of the US. The People arrived in Israel with a system that has already confirmed itself on the operational stage, with the primary interception on January 17, 2022 of a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi rebels in Yemen in opposition to the UAE, however the scale of the interceptions in Israel’s operation in opposition to Iran doesn’t come near what THAAD had beforehand dealt with.
The principle drawback of THAAD, just like different US techniques, is the extraordinarily excessive armament prices. Every THAAD US interceptor missile prices about $12.7 million, in line with the price range of the US Missile Protection Company (MDA), way more than the Israeli Arrow 3 (about $2 million) or Arrow 2 (about $1.5 million). A comparability between different Israeli and US techniques demonstrates comparable outcomes. Whereas a David Sling interceptor missile prices an estimated $700,000, the price of intercepting a Patriot PAC-3 system is about $6 million. This technique was the premise of US protection on the Al-Udeid base in Qatar final week, the place, in line with “Protection Information”, two Patriot batteries with about 44 troopers – the oldest of whom is a 28-year-old captain – operated the mission to intercept about 14 Iranian ballistic missiles.
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85%-90% interception fee
Information from the Institute for Nationwide Safety Research exhibits that Iran launched about 591 ballistic missiles at Israel over 12 days, with Israeli and US protection techniques intercepting about 85%-90% – the next fee than anticipated earlier than the warfare. Of those, about 60-80 interceptions have been carried out by THAAD, in line with “Bulgarian Army.” Normally, the uneven funding between assault prices and interception prices, refers to drones. Nevertheless, this challenge can be mirrored within the discipline of ballistic missiles, particularly within the case of US techniques. THAAD, with a price ticket of about $12-15 million per interceptor, has confronted ballistic missiles whose costs vary from about $100,000 for comparatively outdated fashions such because the Fateh-110 to about $1 million for superior fashions such because the Sejil or Khorramshahr.
In abstract, the deployment of THAAD in Israel might present a problem to the Trump administration for 2 causes: financial and operational. Within the financial sphere, the Division of Protection final week introduced its price range request for fiscal yr 2026, which stands at about $961.6 billion. That quantity consists of, amongst different issues, $205 billion for procurement, $107 billion for operation and upkeep, and $1.2 billion for R&D. In the long term, the Pentagon price range is anticipated to cross the trillion-dollar mark by 2027. Because the US is required to take a position extra in operational use of its interceptors, that are already comparatively costly, the funding will improve.
On the similar time, the US is deployed all around the world. When the THAAD system was developed within the Nineteen Nineties, it was aimed on the Iranian ballistic missile menace, but additionally at that of North Korea. At the moment, the Chinese language DF-21D and DF-26 missiles are additionally on the agenda, and as Beijing’s menace to Taiwan will increase and tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul improve, it’s potential that the highest brass of the Pentagon will ponder whether there’s a want to bolster air protection techniques within the East Asia.
Revealed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on June 30, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
