US to send missile defense system and troops to Israel

The United States will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel, along with the troops needed to operate it, the Pentagon said Sunday, even as Iran warned Washington to keep American military forces out of Israel.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of the THAAD battery at the direction of President Joe Biden. He said the system will help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel in April and October .

The delivery of the sophisticated missile defense system risks further inflaming the conflict in the Middle East despite widespread diplomatic efforts to avoid an all-out war. The Iranian warning came in a post on the social platform X long associated with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who noted the earlier reports that the U.S. was considering the deployment.

Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon have been clashing since Oct. 8, 2023, when the Lebanese militant group began firing rockets over the border in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza . Late last month, Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon.

Israel is widely believed to be preparing a military response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack when it fired roughly 180 missiles into Israel.

In a brief exchange with reporters before leaving Florida on Sunday, Biden said he agreed to deploy the THAAD battery “to defend Israel.” Biden spoke at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa after making a quick visit to see the damage caused by Hurricane Milton and meet with first responders, residents and local leaders.

Ryder, in his statement, said the deployment "underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran.”

It was not immediately clear where the THAAD battery was coming from or when it will arrive. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, declined to provide any timeline for its arrival, but thanked the U.S. for its support.

The U.S. deployed one of the batteries to the Middle East along with additional Patriot battalions to bolster protections for U.S. forces in the region late last year after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas militants. Ryder also said that the U.S. sent a THAAD battery to Israel in 2019 for training.

It is also not unusual for the U.S. to have a limited number of troops in Israel, which the U.S. considers a key regional ally. There have generally been a small number of forces there consistently as well as routine rotational deployments for training and exercises.

The THAAD will add another layer to Israel's already significant air defenses, which include separate systems designed to intercept long-range, medium-range and short-range threats. Israel recently retired its U.S.-made Patriot systems after decades of use.

According to an April report by the Congressional Research Service, the Army has seven THAAD batteries. Generally, each consists of six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors, radio and radar equipment and requires 95 soldiers to operate.

The THAAD is considered a complementary system to the Patriot, but it can defend a wider area. It can hit targets at ranges of 150 to 200 kilometers (93 to 124 miles), and is used to destroy short-range, medium-range and limited intermediate-range ballistic missile threats that are either inside or outside the atmosphere.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is responsible for developing the system, but it is operated by the Army. An eighth system has been funded and ordered and is expected to be in the field sometime next year.

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Aamer Madhani in Tampa, Florida, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

美国五角大楼周日表示，美国将向以色列派遣一套末段高空区域防御系统（THAAD）以及操作该系统所需的部队。与此同时，伊朗警告华盛顿，要求美军远离以色列。

五角大楼发言人帕特·莱德少将在声明中表示，国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀在总统乔·拜登的指示下授权部署“萨德”反导系统。他表示，该系统将有助于加强以色列的防空能力，此前伊朗分别于4月和10月对以色列发动了弹道导弹袭击。

尽管各方外交努力避免全面战争，但交付这套先进的导弹防御系统仍有可能进一步加剧中东冲突。伊朗发出警告，该警告发布在与伊朗外长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇长期合作的社交平台X上。阿拉格奇在帖子中提到了早前有关美国正在考虑部署该系统的报道。

自2023年10月8日以来，以色列军队与黎巴嫩真主党武装分子一直在黎巴嫩境内发生冲突。当时，黎巴嫩真主党开始向以色列边境发射火箭弹，以支持其在加沙的盟友哈马斯。上个月底，以色列对黎巴嫩发动了地面入侵。

人们普遍认为，以色列正在准备对伊朗10月1日向以色列发射约180枚导弹的袭击事件做出军事回应。

周日离开佛罗里达州前，拜登在与记者简短交流中表示，他已同意部署“萨德”反导系统“以保卫以色列”。此前，拜登短暂视察了飓风“米尔顿”造成的灾情，并会见了救援人员、居民和当地领导人。随后，他在坦帕的麦克迪尔空军基地发表了讲话。

莱德在声明中表示，此次部署“凸显了美国对保卫以色列以及保护在以色列的美国人免受伊朗任何进一步弹道导弹袭击的坚定承诺”。

目前尚不清楚“萨德”系统从何处运抵以色列，也不清楚何时抵达。以色列军方发言人纳达夫·肖沙尼中校拒绝透露具体抵达时间，但感谢美国的支持。

去年年底，在哈马斯武装分子于2023年10月7日袭击以色列后，美国向中东部署了一套“萨德”反导系统以及其他“爱国者”导弹防御营，以加强该地区美军的安全防护。莱德还表示，美国曾在2019年向以色列派遣了一套“萨德”反导系统进行训练。

美国在以色列驻扎少量军队也并不罕见，美国将以色列视为重要的地区盟友。通常情况下，美国在以色列会长期驻扎少量部队，并定期进行轮换部署，用于训练和演习。

萨德系统将为以色列本已十分强大的防空体系再添一层保障。以色列现有的防空系统包括用于拦截远程、中程和近程威胁的独立系统。以色列近期已退役了服役数十年的美制“爱国者”导弹系统。

根据国会研究服务处四月份的一份报告，陆军拥有七个“萨德”反导系统连。通常情况下，每个连由六辆车载发射车、48枚拦截弹、无线电和雷达设备组成，需要95名士兵操作。

萨德系统被认为是爱国者系统的补充系统，但它的防御范围更广。它可以打击150至200公里（93至124英里）范围内的目标，并用于摧毁大气层内外短程、中程和有限中程弹道导弹威胁。

美国导弹防御局负责研发该系统，但由陆军负责操作。第八套系统已获得资金支持并订购，预计将于明年某个时候投入使用。

美联社驻阿联酋迪拜记者乔恩·甘布雷尔、驻佛罗里达州坦帕记者阿米尔·马德哈尼和驻耶路撒冷记者约瑟夫·费德曼对本报道亦有贡献。