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But what exactly is THAAD? And what features make it so controversial?
This is what the U.S. military calls THAAD --- Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.
Here's how it works:
There are three main components:
A powerful X-Band radar array scans the skies, effective up to 1,000 kilometers. Placed in the R.O.K., the radar could easily extend deep into China.
A mobile command center uses the radar data, plus satellite information, to detect and target incoming missiles.
An interceptor launches from the truck-based array. As it nears the target it uses infra-red beams to meet the incoming missile in the upper part of the atmosphere, or even in the lower reaches of space-up to 150 kilometers above the earth.
A THAAD interceptor does not contain a warhead. It destroys the incoming missile by force of impact. The U.S. has five THAAD systems. Each costs about 800 million dollars and is operated by about 110 soldiers.
The U.S. and the R.O.K say the system would only be used to defend against the D.P.R.K.
In 2009, a THAAD system in Hawaii for testing... was activated in response to potential threats from the DPRK.
Following a 2013 nuclear test by the DPRK, the United States deployed a THAAD system to the island of Guam --- a U.S. territory in the Pacific some 3,000 kilometers from Seoul.
The THAAD system in Guam was meant to be temporary, but the Pentagon is now making it a permanent installation.
中文国际网摘编：GAN JADE |
