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North Korea will now have America's most advanced missile system in its backyard
(Meet America's THAAD system.via Lockheed Martin)
The most advanced missile system on the planet can hunt and blast incoming missiles right out of the sky with a 100% success rate — and it appears to be headed to North Korea's backyard.
On the heels of bilateral sanctions by Seoul and Washington, plus layers of UN sanctions, the Pentagon agreed to equip South Korea with the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system.
"North Korea's continued development of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction require the alliance to take this prudent, protective measure to bolster our layered and effective missile defense," US Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, commander of US forces in South Korea, said in a statement.
The pressure to deploy THAAD began after North Korea tested its fourth nuclear bomb on January 6 and then launched a long-range rocket on February 7.
"Oh, it's going to happen. It's a necessary thing," US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during a discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York in April.
"We need to defend our own people. We need to defend our own allies. And we're going to do that."
With its unmatched precision, Lockheed Martin's $800 million THAAD system can equalize tensions around the world with its mobility and strategic battery-unit placement.
"It is the most technically advanced missile-defense system in the world," US Army Col. Alan Wiernicki, commander of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, told Business Insider in an interview.
"Combatant commanders and our allies know this, which puts our THAAD Batteries in very high global demand," Wiernicki added.
And that demand seems poised to rise.
Deploying America's THAAD
Currently, there are five THAAD batteries — each of approximately 100 soldiers — assigned to Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. One of those batteries was deployed to Guam in April 2013 in order to deter North Korean provocations and further defend the Pacific region.
Meanwhile, negotiations to equip South Korea with a THAAD battery have been ongoing since South Korean President Park Geun-hye's October 2015 visit to the White House.
However, China argues that deployment of the THAAD system will further destablize the region.
"China strongly urges the United States and South Korea to stop the deployment process of the THAAD anti-missile system, not take any steps to complicate the regional situation and do nothing to harm China's strategic security interests," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"[China] knows full well that the THAAD being deployed to South Korea is not aimed at it at all," Yoo Dong-ryol, who heads the Korea Institute of Liberal Democracy in Seoul told Reuters.
"It just doesn't like more American weapons system being brought in so close to it."
Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong warned that deploying THAAD would irreparably damage relations between the countries, The Chosunilbo reported.
(Heritage Foundation/Amanda Macias/Business Insider)
THAAD deployment, Qiu said, "would break the strategic balance in the region and create a vicious cycle of Cold War-style confrontations and an arms race, which could escalate tensions."
During US Secretary of State John Kerry's February visit to Beijing, he explained that the US was "not hungry or anxious or looking for an opportunity to deploy THAAD," CNN reported.
"THAAD is a purely defensive weapon. It is purely capable of shooting down a ballistic missile it intercepts. And it is there for the protection of the United States," Kerry added.
Depending on THAAD's location in South Korea, the system is capable of countering almost all incoming short-and medium-range ballistic missiles from North Korea by using 'hit to kill' lethality.
THAAD's 'hit to kill' lethality
Impressively, the THAAD interceptor does not carry a warhead. Instead, the interceptor missile uses pure kinetic energy to deliver "hit to kill" strikes to incoming ballistic threats inside or outside the atmosphere.
Each launcher carries up to eight missiles and can send multiple kill vehicles at once, depending on the severity of the threat.
Lockheed Martin's missile launcher is just one element of the four-part antimissile system. The graphic below shows the rest of the components needed for each enemy-target interception.
(Lockheed Martin)
THAAD's first line of defense is its radar system.
"We have one of the most powerful radars in the world," US Army Capt. Kyle Terza, a THAAD battery commander, told Business Insider.
Raytheon's AN/TPY-2 radar is used to detect, track, and discriminate ballistic missiles in the terminal (or descent) phase of flight.
The mobile radar is about the size of a bus and is so powerful that it can scan areas the size of entire countries, according to Raytheon.
(Raytheon's AN/TPY-2 radar.Raytheon)
Once an enemy threat has been identified, THAAD's Fire Control and Communications (TFCC) support team kicks in. If there is a decision to engage the incoming missile, the launcher fires an interceptor to hunt for its target.
Here's what a launch looks like from far away:
While in flight, the interceptor is designed to track the threat and obliterate it in the sky.
The following infrared imagery shows THAAD demolishing the target:
By the end of 2016, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is scheduled to deliver an additional 48 THAAD interceptors to the US military, bringing the total up to 155, according to a statement from MDA director Vice Admiral J.D. Syring before the House Armed Service Committee.
According to the US Missile Defense Agency, there are more than 6,300 ballistic missiles outside of US, NATO, Russian, and Chinese control.
The United Arab Emirates became the first foreign buyer after signing a deal with the Department of Defense for $3.4 billion. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have "expressed interest," according to Richard McDaniel, vice president of Patriot Advanced Capability programs at Lockheed Martin. "We expect deals," he added.
Currently, the US maintains 28,500 troops in South Korea.
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