The THAAD system is highly effective against ballistic missiles, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the biggest US arms maker
Raytheon, another American weapons firm, builds its advanced radar
The system counts six truck-mounted launchers, with eight interceptors on each launcher It costs about $1bn (£766m) a battery and requires a crew of about 100 to operate it
THAAD is much sought after including by Ukraine to counter Russian missile attacks
Saudi Arabia has orders in for it and reportedly wanted more as part of an American weapons bonanza in return for officially recognising Israel: a so-called "normalisation" deal which was largely derailed after the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas
The Pentagon describes the THAAD deployment as part of
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"the broader adjustments the US military has made in recent months" to support Israel and defend American personnel from attacks by Iran and Iranian-backed groups
It says a THAAD was deployed in southern Israel for an exercise in 2019 the last and only time it was known to be there
A US military deployment to Israel outside of drills is extremely rare, given Israel's own capabilities
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned on Sunday that
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the US was putting the lives of its troops "at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel"
