Tehran destroys powerful missile shield system in Jordan strikes

According to experts, the loss of THAAD’S AN/TPY-2 radar is significant, but US has other radar systems to continue defence operations.

thaad defence system — Iran’s BIG ATTACK on US: Tehran destroys powerful missile shield system in Jordan strikes

How THAAD Radar Was Destroyed By Iran In Jordan Strikes: Iran has intensified its attacks on United States bases in the Middle East after the Israel–US airstrikes. In the opening days of the attack, Tehran destroyed a USD 300 million radar system at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The radar system plays a crucial role in directing American missile defence batteries in the Gulf region. Satellite images reveal that an RTX Corp. AN/TPY-2 radar and its support equipment – a crucial part of the THAAD missile defence system – were destroyed by Iran’s airstrike, CNN reported, citing commercial satellite images. A US official stated that the damage has affected the region’s ability to defend itself from future attacks.

According to the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, Tehran carried out two airstrikes – first on February 28 and another on March 3. Both were reported to have been intercepted, said a report by Bloomberg

Ryan Brobst, Deputy Director of the Center on Military and Political Power at FDD, stated that the airstrike on a THAAD radar was considered one of the Middle East countries’ “most successful attacks so far.” He said, “The US military and its partners have other radars that can continue to provide air and missile defense coverage, mitigating the loss of any single radar.”

Why This Is Seen As A Major Setback For The US?

It is to be noted that US has installed a total of eight THAAD systems across the world. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system is specifically designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles at the edges of the atmosphere. This allows the system to intercept more complex threats than the shorter-range Patriot systems.

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Notably, each THAAD battery costs about USD1 billion, which also includes USD 300 million for the radar system.

As the AN/TPY-2 radar destroyed in Iran airstrikes, missile interception duties will fall onto the Patriot systems. But here is the catch, the PAC-3 missiles that Patriot systems use are already in short supply.

According to a report by Bloomberg, citing Tom Karako, a missile defence expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the radars were a crucial strategic resource.

“These are scarce strategic resources and its loss is a huge blow. Eight-battery force is still below the force structure requirements of nine set back in 2012, so there aren’t exactly any spare TPY-2 lying around,” he said.

THAAD Battery System

Notably, a THAAD battery has 90 soldiers to operate it, six truck-mounted launchers. The battery has forty-eight interceptors – 8 per launcher, 1 TPY-2 radar, a tactical fire control and communication unit. The cost of each interceptor missile is USD13 million.

Air and missile defence systems in the Gulf region are under heavy pressure due to Iran’s back-to-back attacks. Ongoing strikes have raised new concerns that stocks of advanced interceptors -THAAD and PAC-3—could soon run low.

On Friday, US defence companies held a crucial meeting at the White House as the Pentagon instructed them to speed up weapons production.

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