September10, 2008:
The UAE (United Arab Emirates)
wants to buy $7 billion worth of American THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area
Defense) anti-missile systems to protect itself against the growing arsenal of
Iranian ballistic missiles. The UAE is a confederation of small Arab states at
the southern end of the Persian Gulf. With a population of only 5.5 million,
and large oil and gas deposits, the emirates have a per-capita income of
$43,000. Thus the UAE has a lot to defend, and an increasingly belligerent
neighbor just across the Gulf. The UAE controls one side the entrance to the
Gulf (the Straits of Hormuz). Iran is on the other end, and both nations
dispute ownership of some islands in the middle.
The U.S. has
agreed to the sale, even though the U.S. Army just formed the first of four
THAD anti-ballistic missile (ABM) batteries earlier this year. This unit will
be ready for combat in two years, using the THAAD missile. The other three
batteries will be in service within five years. Twenty months ago, there was a successful test of THAAD (a SCUD type
target was destroyed in flight) using a crew of soldiers for the first time,
and not manufacturer technicians, to operate the system.
Each THAAD battery will have 24 missiles,
three launchers and a fire control communications system. This will include an
X-Band radar. The gear for each battery will cost $310 million. The 18 foot
long THAAD missiles weigh 1,400 pounds. This is about the same size as the
Patriot anti-aircraft missile, but twice the weight of the anti-missile version
of the Patriot. The range of THAAD is 200 kilometers, max altitude is 150
kilometers, and it is intended for short (like SCUD) or medium range (up to
2,000 kilometer) range ballistic missiles. This is what Iran has a lot of.
THAAD has
been in development for two decades. Ultimately, the army would like to buy at
least 18 launchers, 1,400 missiles, and 18 radars. The UAE appears to be buying
more than that; at least a dozen batteries, which is enough to cover the entire
southern end of the Persian Gulf against whatever the Iranians can throw at
them. However, it will be at least five years before any of the UAE has any of
these THAADs deployed. With an order that size, perhaps the U.S. will throw in
some temporary protection via U.S. Navy warships equipped with Aegis
anti-missile missiles.
THAAD
is a step up from the Patriot PAC-3
anti-missile (which is an anti-aircraft missile adapted to take out incoming
missiles). The PAC-3 works, but it has limited (20 kilometers) range. The navy
has also modified its Standard anti-aircraft missile system to operate like the
PAC-3. This system, the RIM-161A, also known as the Standard Missile 3 (or
SM-3), has a longer range than THAAD (over 500 kilometers) and max altitude of
160 kilometers. missiles. The Standard 3 is based on the failed anti-missile
version of the Standard 2, and costs over three million dollars each. The
Standard 3 has four stages. The first two stages boost the interceptor out of
the atmosphere. The third stage fires twice to boost the interceptor farther
beyond the earth's atmosphere. Prior to each motor firing it takes a GPS
reading to correct course for approaching the target. The fourth stage is the
20 pound LEAP kill vehicle, which uses infrared sensors to close on the target
and ram it.
The UAE has
already bought Patriot anti-missile and anti-aircraft missile systems, as well
as dozens of new fighter interceptors, and tens of billions of dollars of new
gear for their army and navy. The UAE armed forces has 60,000 troops, and they
are armed to the teeth.