THAAD In S Korea Cannot Spy On China

The Terminal High Altitude Defence System (THAAD) installed in South Korea to counter Pyongyang's missiles cannot spy on Chinese military installations due to the limitations of its Radar.

According to military experts, THAAD’s radar cannot detect ground facilities in China, given the curvature of the Earth. Its radar is known to have an optimal range of 600 to 800 km, Yonhap reports.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, which is currently positioned only in Seongju County of North Gyeongsang Province, drew a rebuke from China, which argued THAAD could upset the regional security balance and be used against its own missile systems.

The ground-based missile defense system, which first came into development after the Persian Gulf War, is designed to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during the terminal phase.

CNBC reported last month that the US missile system deployed in South Korea is not capable of shielding the capital Seoul due to range limitations. “THAAD is designed to intercept missiles within a range of 200 kilometers (124 miles). Southern parts of the country lie within that area, but the capital Seoul — by far the most densely populated area of the country — is not,” the report states.

However, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said on Saturday that US missile defense system can detect missile threats at a range of up to 1,000 kilometers.

X-band ground-based radar that comes with THAAD can detect, classify and identify threats of incoming missiles "at ranges up to 1,000 km," the USFK said in its yearly magazine titled "Strategic Digest," published jointly by the United Nations Command and the Combined Forces Command.