A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor is launched from the Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein atoll in 2019. (Missile Defense Agency)
Anti-missile seekers would quadruple in production under an agreement signed between the Pentagon and the anti-missile defense system’s builders, the Defense Department announced Wednesday.
BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin agreed to prioritize the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, a key weapon in fighting missiles and drones fired by Iran at U.S. and allied targets during the current Middle East conflict.
Under the agreement, annual construction of seekers would follow a January deal that saw Lockheed agree to try to increase production of THAAD interceptors from 96 to 400 per year.
The Pentagon released no financial details of the agreement.
Guided by BAE Systems’ seekers, THAAD interceptors lock onto ballistic missiles flying as fast as 17,000 mph. The interceptor strikes the target with sufficient kinetic energy — speed and force — to destroy the incoming warheads. The system can intercept targets inside and outside Earth’s atmosphere.
THAAD can defend a larger geographic area than the Patriot missile, according to a Congressional Research Service report last year. It’s part of an anti-missile system used by the United States that also includes the AEGIS Missile Defense System, and the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System.
Michael Duffey, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, said the THAAD deal would ensure the speed and scale needed for anti-missile defense now and in the future.
“We are providing the certainty our partners need to invest, expand and hire. This is how we place the industrial base on a wartime footing,” Duffey said.
BAE Systems signed on to a seven-year “framework” to increase production fourfold and accelerate delivery of the infrared seeker for THAAD.
“The THAAD seeker provides critical sensing and guidance capabilities to help protect the United States and its global allies from ballistic missiles,” BAE Systems said in a statement Wednesday.
BAE Systems said the THAAD seeker production work would be done at their facilities in Nashua, N.H., and Endicott, N.Y.
Each THAAD battery consists of 90 soldiers, six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors (eight per launcher), one Army/Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control Mode 2 (AN/TPY-2) radar, and a Tactical Fire Control/Communications component, according to the congressional report.
“THAAD provides Combatant Commanders a rapidly deployable capability against short-range (up to 1,000 km), medium-range (1,000–3,000 km), and limited intermediate-range (3,000-5,000 km) ballistic missile threats,” the CRS report said.
The president of South Korea earlier in March opposed the removal of parts of a THAAD system from his country to the Middle East but said the move would not significantly affect deterrence against Pyongyang.
