USA Temporarily Deploy THAAD System to Romania

The U.S. Armed Forces temporarily deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to Romania. THAAD will remain operational in Romania only while Aegis Ashore maintenance and updates are taking place during the summer, the United States European Command said in the press release. “Aegis Ashore Romania is an important part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach, which is designed to protect European NATO allies and U.S. deployed forces in the region against the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles outside the Euro-Atlantic area”, press release says. The THAAD, from the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, will integrate into the existing NATO BMD architecture. In November 2018, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with the United States on the purchase of an American Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system at a cost of $15 billion. In summer 2018 the United States and Germany discussed the deployment of anti-missile system on the territory of Germany, but the results of the negotiations were not reported. In December 2017, the Japanese Parliament voted for the THAAD deployment on its territory, and in January 2018 the system was deployed in South Korea. This caused discontent in Beijing – the Chinese authorities believe that under the pretext of protection from the DPRK, the U.S. is building a system capable of shooting down missiles fired from China. It should be noted that Moscow has repeatedly put forward claims to Washington about the deployment of U.S. BMD in Europe. NATO claims that there are no plans to deploy new U.S. missiles in Europe, but the Alliance needs to “adapt” to the new conditions after the break of the INF Treaty. Kommersant