Thaad, which was deployed this week to Israel, and which we analyze here why, is the lead US missile defense interceptor but its specs are similar the Israeli Arrow 3 and 2.
So Israel, with all due respect to uncle Sam, doesn’t need THAAD to protect it – and some of the “analysis” that it is meant to show the US’s “commitment to the security of Israel” are just fake analysis, frankly. So why is being deployed? and in fact, what are the differences between THAAD and the Arrow missile at all? The THAAD is parallel to the Arrow 2, taking out missiles INSIDE the atmosphere and Arrow 3 interception in space and thus parallel to the US GMD system (which is not really a known system), so the comparison is only between Arrow 2 and THAAD.
The THAAD is a hybrid between the Arrow 2 and 3 as on the one hand it goes higher than the Arrow 2 but DOESN’T have ex atmospheric interception capability like the Arrow 3 which on its end is more similar to the lesser known GMD. ON the same token it is lighter than the Arrow 3, but heavier than the Arrow 2, is hit to kill like the Arrow 3 and unlike the Arrow 2 which is fragmentation and also unlike the arrow 2 it can’t take out low flying missiles like the Arrow 2 can and did in 2017 when it intercepted a Syrian Anti-aircraft missile fired at an Israeli plane.
Frankly, the sudden exercise deployment to Israel seems like just an exercise. nothing more. but maybe not and there is something behind it. All this analysis of Trump wanting to “send a message” to Iran, hence the deployment, seem ridicules. Iran is at the “peak” of its weakness with a collapsing economy. It has no interest or frankly military ability to do anything to Israel, aside from funding terrorist groups across the region. Same goes for Hezbollah, which, in addition to it being involved in a quagmire in Syria and simply no interest in any conflict with Syria and in any case its only border which it doesn’t have to look over its shoulder is Israel. And in any event the Thaad aren’t designed for downing anything that will be sent from Syria and Lebanon and in any case Israel has its own missiles for that.
Our analysis – part of a larger poker game between Russia and the US and Europe in which all the fronts Russia and the west are potentially involved, Ukraine, Syria, Black sea, the Baltics are meshed together between both sides. There is hot headed signaling between both sides regarding troop deployment and it might be a signal to show them how fast they deploy these systems from one place to another.
But more likely, it seems like a surprise deployment exercise of the system.
Israeli FirePower LTD. 