The leading US missile defense system in Israel has been used in combat again

• A US air defense system in Israel has just been used in combat for the first time since its introduction.
• It is unclear whether the THAAD battery successfully intercepted the incoming threat.
• The battery was reportedly used against a Houthi ballistic missile late last week.

A senior U.S. air defense battery stationed in Israel was recently deployed in combat. This appears to be the first known instance of the system firing an interceptor since its arrival in the country two months ago.

The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery has been deployed in recent days, a US defense official confirmed to Business Insider on Monday. They did not provide further details about the circumstances of the incident or the type of missile attack that THAAD was intended to repel.

Footage shared on social media on Friday purported to show Israel firing down a THAAD interceptor against an incoming ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in Yemen. A U.S. soldier can reportedly be heard in the background of the video saying, “Eighteen years (I’ve) been waiting for this.”

It is unclear whether the THAAD shot was successful. The Israeli military said early Friday local time that a missile fired from Yemen was intercepted before it reached Israeli territory. It was not specified which air defense system was actually used to counter the threat.

The US deployed a THAAD battery and around 100 soldiers to Israel in October, following a massive Iranian missile attack on the country earlier that month. The Pentagon said at the time that the system would complement Israel’s advanced and multi-tiered air defenses.

THAAD, manufactured by the US defense company Lockheed Martin, is intended to defend against short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the final phase of their flight. The system can attack targets 93 to 124 miles away in and outside the atmosphere and eliminates an incoming threat by hitting it rather than exploding nearby.

The U.S. Army began developing THAAD in 1992 and now has seven batteries, some of which are located outside the Americas. A typical battery consists of nearly 100 soldiers, six truck-mounted launchers, an advanced radar, and a fire control and communications element.

THAAD’s first operational intercept mission in combat occurred in January 2022, when a UAE-deployed battery fired a Houthi ballistic missile. Although combat missions were rare, THAAD is still considered one of them Top air defense in the world; Israel’s equivalent of the THAAD, the Arrow 3, has also proven itself in combat.

Last year, the US sent a THAAD battery to the Middle East to protect American troops after Hamas carried out its massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023. The October deployment strengthens Israel’s vaunted air defense shield against missiles, consisting of David’s Sling and Arrow systems. The much-praised Iron Dome, on the other hand, is designed to repel rockets and artillery shells.

Israel is phasing out the US-made Patriot battery. The Israelis were angry with the Patriot after its early version failed to defeat Scud missiles fired by Iraq in 1991. Later upgrades made the Patriot an important defensive asset for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

The THAAD battery’s latest deployment comes amid a notable increase in Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel in recent weeks. In retaliation, Israeli forces bombed rebels in Yemen.