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Missile protection begins with sensors that may detect a launch inside seconds. One of many key radars used with THAAD is the AN/TPY-2, a high-frequency X-band radar designed to trace small, fast-moving objects at lengthy distances.
The radar can detect and observe ballistic missiles tons of of kilometers away, following objects touring at hypersonic speeds and transmitting that knowledge to command facilities in actual time.
As soon as a missile launch is detected, protection techniques calculate its trajectory and decide the place the missile will likely be at a given second in flight. Interceptors are then launched to satisfy it at that actual level in house.
Why Intercepting Ballistic Missiles Is So Onerous
Ballistic missiles journey extraordinarily quick. Some attain speeds of greater than 20,000 kilometres per hour, quick sufficient to cross all the UAE in only a few minutes. Due to these speeds, protection techniques usually have solely minutes to detect, observe. and intercept a missile earlier than it descends towards its goal.
To reply inside that slender window, missile protection techniques depend on a number of applied sciences working collectively: early-warning sensors to detect launches, radar networks to trace the menace, and interceptor missiles designed to destroy it mid-flight.
The growth of missile protection techniques throughout the Gulf has been pushed largely by the fast growth of ballistic missile arsenals within the area. Iran is broadly thought-about to own one of many largest ballistic missile inventories within the Center East.
Consequently, Gulf international locations have spent extra than a decade investing in radar techniques, interceptors, and command networks designed to guard vital infrastructure, main cities, and army services. The UAE hosts a number of main army installations, together with Al Dhafra Air Base, which homes each Emirati and US forces.
Even when a missile is efficiently destroyed, the hazard doesn’t disappear totally.
Intercepted missiles can break aside at excessive altitude, sending fragments falling again towards the bottom. In some circumstances, particles can nonetheless trigger injury if it lands in populated areas. Saturday’s incident illustrates that danger: Though incoming missiles had been intercepted earlier than influence, falling particles from one interception killed a civilian in Abu Dhabi.
This story initially appeared on WIRED Center East.
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