Austin Announces That THAAD System 'In Place' to Defend Israel

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a statement on Monday that the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) system had been rushed to Israel and was now "in place" to defend against the possibility of another Iranian ballistic missile attack. “We have the ability to put it into operation very quickly and we’re on pace with our expectations,” he added.

“It’s hard to say exactly what [Israel’s] strike will look like," he continued. “At the end of the day, that’s an Israeli decision, and whether or not the Israelis believe it’s proportional and how the Iranians perceive it, I mean those may be two different things.”

“We’re going to do — continue to do — everything we can… to dial down the tensions and hopefully get both parties to begin to deescalate. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Around 100 US troops will operate the system while it's in Israel. It is designed to work together with the Patriot system to provide area defense against rocket and missile attacks and can engage incoming targets at a range of up to 150-200 kilometers (93-124 miles).