The U.S. military has conducted preliminary talks about the potential deployment of a missile defense system in Germany to strengthen defenses in Europe amid threats posed by Iran’s ballistic missile development efforts, Reuters reported Friday.
Riki Ellison, head of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said the U.S. European Command has been proposing for years the plan to field the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in Europe but the U.S. government’s decision to exit the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran has given weight to the matter.
“There are currently no plans to station THAAD systems in Germany,†said Eric Pahon, a spokesman for the Defense Department.
“We do not discuss potential future military planning, as we would not want to signal our intent to potential adversaries,†Pahon added.
The report said the potential deployment of THAAD in Germany may be included in DoD’s missile defense review that is expected to be issued early this month.
Lockheed Martin-built THAAD has a Raytheon-made radar, AN/TPY-2, and works to counter short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
