The US soldiers will reportedly send the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) air defense system to Israel in order to prepare for intercepting ballistic missiles.
According to N12 report on Saturday night, such a decision would prompt the US to station American soldiers in Israel to operate the THAAD system.
The decision to operate the THAAD US air defense system on Israeli soil would come in preparation for an expected Iranian response to Israel's anticipated retaliation strike on Iran.
Following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also directed the deployment of the THAAD system to Israel, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
At the time, Austin also called for additional Patriot battalions to be deployed throughout the Middle East to increase force protection for US forces, the FDD added.
The THAAD system is considered the middle tier of the US ballistic missile defense and is a mobile system that "fires a hit-to-kill interceptor capable of defeating ballistic missiles inside and outside of the atmosphere," the FDD noted, Jerusalem Post reported.
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