WSJ Exclusive: US Missiles and Troops Are Headed to Defend Israel

As an Israeli retaliation for Iran's massive ballistic missile strike looms, the Biden White House has decided to deploy a six-launcher battery of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missiles to shore up Israel's air defenses, and at least 96 US soldiers will man the missile battery.

The Biden administration is planning to send an advanced antimissile system to Israel along with American troops to operate it, moving to bolster its top Middle East ally’s defenses, U.S. officials said Sunday.
The deployment of the Thaad system, a ground-based interceptor designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, would mark a significant step in American efforts to directly protect Israel against an enemy attack by putting U.S. soldiers on the ground.
The move comes as U.S. and Israeli officials have been holding talks on a planned strike on Iran. U.S. officials have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government not to target Iran’s oil facilities and nuclear sites.

THAAD was developed as part of the ballistic missile defense program and has proven itself effective against Iranian-designed missiles. THAAD can counter short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats and is the only U.S. system designed to intercept targets outside and inside the atmosphere.

A THAAD missile does not have an explosive warhead; rather, it relies on a kinetic "kill vehicle."

The image below gives you an idea of how THAAD fits into a layered air defense system.

🇺🇲🇮🇱 US based media is saying that this is not true.

Also, THAAD is not solely an exospheric interceptor like SM-3 and Arrow 3, its battlespace spans both the endo and exospheres. https://t.co/1L61brkiXe pic.twitter.com/HmpHD4JzZ3
— Colby Badhwar 🇨🇦🇬🇧 (@ColbyBadhwar) October 12, 2024

Some have portrayed this as a sign that Israel has run short of missile interceptors and the US is filling the gap. I think that position is indefensible. A single battery signals that the intent is to provide terminal defense to a relatively small number of point targets...like perhaps Tel Aviv and Israel's nuclear deterrent. If Israel were on the verge of running out of missiles, there would have been a flow of NASAMS, Patriot, and THAAD at the battalion level, along with a command and control element, into Israel.

This is a surprising move from a White House that gets a case of the Hershey squirts if someone breathes the word "escalation."

Despite U.S. Officials claiming that a decision had not yet been made regarding the Deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Battery to Israel, a U.S. Air Force C-5 “Galaxy” Strategic Airlifter from Portsmouth arrived earlier today at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in… pic.twitter.com/5Hsj0mMTbz
— Alex Kennedy (@therealmindman) October 12, 2024

In previous Iranian attacks on Israel, US aircraft and warships have engaged Iranian cruise missiles and drones but only in international airspace. This deployment not only places American soldiers in Israel as the region slides, inexorably, in my view, toward a regional war that has the possibility of going nuclear; see Israel Hammering Iran's Proxy Armies Sends a Clear Message to Tehran That the Rules Have Changed – RedState, it marks the beginning of positive rather than incidental participation in the brewing war.