The United States is moving components of an advanced anti-ballistic missile air defense system from South Korea to the Middle East, according to a new report, a sign of the strain 11 days of strikes across the region is putting on U.S. troops and its allies despite officials downplaying stockpile concerns.
U.S. forces deployed in South Korea are transferring parts of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from the peninsula, The Washington Post reported, citing two anonymous officials. It’s not clear which assets are being sent to the Middle East, nor when they will arrive.
The Pentagon is also reportedly pulling interceptor missiles for the ground-based, U.S.-made Patriot air defense system from other regions, including the Indo-Pacific.
The Department of Defense declined to comment when contacted by Newsweek.
The U.S. has used up vast amounts of munitions since it started striking Iran on February 28, upping the ante on Tuesday as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said American forces would unleash their most powerful strikes yet.
Iran’s retaliatory attacks have homed in on U.S. military bases in the region and a dozen countries, putting pressure on expensive and increasingly scarce stocks of interceptor missiles for sophisticated air defense systems like THAAD and Patriot. Many of the Gulf states bearing the brunt of Iranian drone and missile strikes use U.S.-designed systems and missiles.
THAAD systems are a particularly popular choice for intercepting the ballistic missiles Iran favors, as they smash into incoming missiles at high speeds during the last stage of the missile’s flight. Each battery is made up of several parts, including a powerful radar that detects and tracks threats.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Seoul had “expressed opposition” to U.S. forces relocating air defenses from the divided peninsula, wary of its belligerent neighbor, North Korea, and its expanding weapons programs.
“Depending on how the situation unfolds, however, the USFK (U.S. Forces Korea) may dispatch some air defense systems abroad in accordance with its own military needs,” Lee said in comments reported by domestic media on Tuesday. Lee did not directly confirm parts of a THAAD battery had been moved away from South Korea, but said Seoul’s defenses against North Korea were still strong.
“While we have expressed opposition, the reality is that we cannot fully push through our position,” Lee said, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
Iran’s military has claimed it has successfully targeted at least four THAAD radars at different bases across the Middle East, including Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.
The U.S. is moving to replace a THAAD radar that was damaged in a drone strike in Jordan, an anonymous U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
The U.S. has just under 30,000 troops deployed in South Korea, its close non-NATO ally. Seoul leans heavily on the U.S.’s vast military to back its own armed forces, should Pyongyang attack across the border.
The two countries are technically still at war, after an armistice agreement ended the three-year Korean War in 1953. Lee’s government had hoped to reduce tensions with the North, aspirations that Kim appears to have batted away. North Korea officially rejected the long-held policy of reconciliation with the South in early 2024, forging ahead with a closer alliance with Russia and casting South Korea as its principal enemy.
The current U.S. administration has said it will prioritize deterring China in the Indo-Pacific alongside its footprint in South Korea.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, criticized ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills and warned of “terrible consequences” if Pyongyang feels threatened.
U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns about the pace at which U.S. forces are burning through both weapons used to strike Iran and equipment used to defend bases and countries under Iranian fire.
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