A US Army THAAD launcher of Battery B, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, being unloaded from a C-17 transport at Nevatim Air Base, Israel, on 1 March 2019. (174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade)
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on 21 October that the US Army Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system was in place in Israel. “We have the ability to put it into operation very quickly,” he was quoted by news media as saying before a visit to Ukraine on 21 October.
In its weekly update on 18 October, US Central Command said, “The THAAD battery is now integrated into the regional air-defence architecture.” Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder told a press briefing on 22 October that the system “augments the air-defence capability that we have in the region, as well as provides additional protection for our forces and our American citizens who are in the Middle East”.
On 15 October he announced that an advance team of US military personnel and initial components to operate the THAAD battery arrived in Israel the day before.
Austin authorised the deployment of the THAAD battery to reinforce the Israeli integrated air-defence system following Iran's ballistic missile attacks on Israel on 1 October and 13 April, Maj Gen Ryder announced on 13 October.
A Pentagon spokesperson told Janes on 14 October that the THAAD battery required approximately 100 US soldiers to operate the system.
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