THAAD Surveillance, air attacks, and interceptors launched from the ground are required to defend against incoming ballistic missiles.
The fact that forward operating bases, force concentrations, and ammunition and supply depots can all be targeted by ballistic missiles poses a complex tactical challenge.
Advanced Missile Defense Systems
Even though missiles typically follow a predictable parabola trajectory, it can be difficult to intercept them in time, even if they are spotted. Naturally, the most dangerous ones are those with precision guidance, something not associated with Iraq’s Scud missiles launched during the Gulf War, which inspired the development of THAAD, or Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense.
THAAD is a ground-launched missile battery that can target and intercept incoming missiles by tracking their flight path and firing a kinetic energy interceptor that can disable or destroy an incoming missile without the use of explosives. It is known as a Hit-to-Kill strategy, in which the force of a collision produces the desired effect on the battlefield without the use of a warhead.
THAAD conducts interceptions during what is referred to as the terminal phase of flight, which is the portion of an incoming missile’s trajectory in which it re-enters the earth’s atmosphere or descends onto its targets from lower altitudes.
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Defending Against Hypersonic Attacks
Naturally, the majority of ballistic missiles’ flight paths stay entirely within the confines of the earth’s atmosphere. However, during what is referred to as the mid-course phase, some weapons, such as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), return to the Earth’s atmosphere from space.
Given the speed with which attacking Hypersonics transition from one radar aperture or “field of regard” to another, it will likely be exceedingly difficult to defend against hypersonic attacks with an interceptor such as THAAD.
In recent years, the Pentagon has exerted significant effort to develop techniques for achieving a “continuous target track” on hypersonic missiles traveling at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound.
The Pentagon and MDA, for instance, have been exploring various satellite networking options with the advent of Medium-to-Low Earth Orbit Satellites, which can proliferate at lower altitudes to form a mesh network of data-sharing nodes in space.
If networking is fast enough to establish a continuous track on hypersonic missiles using high-resolution sensors and high-throughput data transmission, it may be possible to intercept hypersonic weapons.
THAAD is unlikely to be a highly effective interceptor, however, unless it is able to achieve much greater speed and target tracking technology in order to keep up with hypersonic attacks.
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