El PASO — An Army unit at Fort Bliss is poised to deploy a sophisticated anti-missile system to Guam amid escalating tensions with North Korea, which is preparing a possible launch of a medium-range rocket capable of reaching the U.S. territory.
Capt. Cesar Torres, commander of the battery that will defend the island, said Thursday his crew trained in the Pacific against the very threat facing Guam and is “absolutely” confident the system will work.
“This is a historic mission,” he said of the unit's deployment from Fort Bliss, which until the last base-closure round had been a hub for rocket research and air defense artillery training.
“We have ready, trained soldiers,” added Torres, 38, of Los Angeles. “The equipment's ready and the experience that's within the battery is more than capable of handling any situation that may arise.”
The troops and the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency say the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, dubbed THAAD, is 10 for 10 in tests, including one test against the kind of rocket that could reach Guam.
The crew and launch system are expected to fly to the Pacific soon, but the Army wouldn't say exactly when.
THAAD is part of the nation's growing ground-and sea-based missile-defense network. Each battery, with six truck-mounted launchers, can fire 48 interceptors. The Pentagon says it has been successfully tested since 2005.
All three THAAD batteries in the Army's arsenal are at Fort Bliss. Two of them have been fielded, fully staffed and are operational, Chief Warrant Officer 4 John Fallin said. The Army plans to eventually field six batteries, with a cost per battery of about $850 million.
Bigger than the Patriot missiles that became famous in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, a THAAD interceptor has a range of about 100 miles and is designed to take down a medium-range ballistic missile. The truck-mounted THAAD launchers are mobile and can be quickly flown to hot spots on C-5 and C-17 cargo planes.
“We're very, very proud of them,” said Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, commander of Fort Bliss, noting “it's the first real-world operation” for a THAAD battery. “They will be a part of a protective shield for our country in case of a missile attack from North Korea or wherever.”
Read more here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Anti-missile-system-faces-first-test-as-Korean-4428314.php