Congressman Mike Turner, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, praised the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for conducting its seventh consecutive successful test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system today.
“The THAAD ground based missile defense system is one of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System’s critical last lines of defense against weapons of mass destruction,” Rep. Turner said. “Today's test, conducted at the lowest altitude to date, is critical to ensuring our forward-based troops and allies are defended against shorter-range missiles.”
“Next year, the Administration is expected to begin fielding its Phased Adaptive Approach for missile defense in Europe; THAAD is an essential element of that Phase 1 plan,” Rep. Turner added. “This successful test builds further confidence in THAAD and should encourage the Administration to increase its THAAD inventory to support European and other regional missile defense architectures. The MDA deserves our congratulations for its commitment to the development of U.S. missile defense capabilities.”
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is a mobile, land-based weapons program designed to destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phases. Today’s test was the seventh successful intercept in seven attempts and proved the system's ability to intercept a target in the low endo-atmosphere.