March 30, 2005 :: Inside Defense :: News
Inside Missile Defense reports:
A road map for transitioning the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system from the oversight of the Missile Defense Agency to the Army should materialize over the next year, Army Space and Missile Defense Command chief Lt. Gen. Larry Dodgen told lawmakers March 15.
Accordingly, an integrated product team has been assembled to help with the transition, as well to iron out testing details, Dodgen said during a House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee hearing.
"The Army has not formally finalized the actual transaction...and we are discussing with MDA exactly how that should transition," Dodgen said.
"We want to man the system and put the system into effect as soon as we possibly can," he later added. "At the same time we don't want to divorce ourselves from the developmental capabilities that MDA brings to integration and enhanced capabilities as we do a global [Ballistic Missile Defense] system."
THAAD is a ground-based system designed to protect forward-deployed troops and population centers from short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It uses a hit-to-kill kinetic energy warhead to intercept missiles during their final phase of flight, either outside the atmosphere or very high up in the atmosphere. (Article)
» Missile system details for: Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
