THAAD battery to be tested in April
By Jun Ji-hye
The U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery being located here will undergo operational testing in April after the delivery of the remaining equipment, including its radar, is completed this month, military sources said Thursday.
The first parts of the advanced missile defense system, including two launchers, arrived in South Korea, March 6.
“The remaining assets will arrive this month,” a military official said on condition of anonymity. “Then, trial operations of the system will take place as early as next month.”
If these go smoothly, and the evaluation of its environmental impact is completed as planned, the battery will be put into service before the presidential election scheduled for May 9.
Some media reports said the radar has already arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, but the Ministry of National Defense and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) declined to officially confirm this, citing security concerns.
“South Korea and the United States are currently working on the deployment based on the agreement to install the battery as soon as possible,” the official said.
A THAAD battery consists of six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors (eight per launcher), a fire control and communications unit, and an AN/TPY-2 radar.
The equipment that has already arrived here was temporarily moved from Osan Air Base to Camp Carroll in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, 17 kilometers always from a golf course in Seongju County where it is to be deployed, according to sources.
Once all the equipment arrives, the system will be tested at Camp Carroll and remain there until the golf course is made ready for the battery, they said.
According to the ministry, it will take one to two months for the land to be prepared as construction planning and environmental impact studies are currently ongoing.
In December, the defense ministry picked a company to conduct the environmental study. The firm began looking into the location last month to see if the THAAD system will affect farming and the health of nearby residents.
Last July, Seoul and Washington announced their decision to deploy the anti-missile system to better deter threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The allies have said the system is purely defensive and poses no threat to other countries in the region.
But China has taken economic retaliatory measures, arguing the system’s powerful radar could “spy” on its territory.