US Wants to Deploy THAAD Anti-Missile System in Germany

US military officials in Europe are said to be holding preliminary discussions on trying to deploy a THAAD anti-missile system to Germany. The US has deployed multiple such systems to South Korea, nominally to defend against North Korean attacks.

The costly THAAD systems have a checkered history in testing, and their ability to intercept enemy missiles has been seriously doubted. US officials are presenting this Germany deployment as necessary since the US withdrew from the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran.

Which doesn’t make a lot of sense, both because Iran and Germany are still participating in the deal, and because there is no reason to think Iran would attack Europe anyhow. Indeed, the deployment of THAAD to Germany is more likely to provoke a reaction from Russia than any notice from Iran.

Russia has long complained about the US deploying missile defense systems along their frontier with NATO, believing it hurts their deterrent capabilities. In the past, Russia has threatened to deploy more missiles to Kaliningrad to counter such systems.

Though Iran has been used as such an excuse previously for US deployments in Europe, Russia has viewed this as fairly transparent, and warned of a response. This new deployment, then, is more a continuation of US deployments against Russia into Europe than anything else.