“[My time at ACA] prepared me very well for the position that I took following that with the State Department, where I then implemented and helped to implement many of the policies that we tried to promote.”
U.S. Moves Missile Defenses to Middle East
May 2026
By Kelsey Davenport
The head of U.S. Forces Korea confirmed that the United States is moving missile defense interceptors from South Korea to the Middle East. The decision is another sign that defending against Iranian missile strikes is straining the already-limited U.S. stockpile of missile defense interceptors.
General Xavier Bunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said April 21 at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the Terminal High Altitude Defense Systems (THAAD) remain in South Korea and are expected to stay there, but he acknowledged that the United States is shipping out some of the systems’ interceptor missiles. Bunson said the THAAD systems were moved around in preparation for transferring the interceptors and that the movement of the systems caused a “big kerfuffle on the peninsula.”
The United States first deployed THAAD to South Korea in 2017 to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles. A THAAD battery costs about $1 billion and typically includes a radar to detect and track missiles, six launchers, and eight interceptors per launcher. THAAD interceptors are designed to shoot down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. In January, the Defense Department and Lockheed Martin announced an agreement to increase annual production from 96 interceptors to 400, but it will take seven years to reach that target, according to a Jan. 29 press release from Lockheed Martin.
In March, several media outlets reported that the United States was relocating missile defense systems from the Pacific region to the Middle East to defend against Iranian strikes. When asked about the reports, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung told journalists March 10 that U.S. Forces Korea “may dispatch some air defense systems abroad in accordance with its own military needs. He added: “While we have expressed opposition, the reality is that we cannot fully push through our position.” Lee later said in a cabinet meeting that the transfer would not “seriously hinder our deterrence strategy against North Korea.”
The U.S. Defense Department already operates several THAAD batteries in the Middle East, at least one of which may have been damaged by an Iranian missile that penetrated U.S. defenses. The decision to move interceptors from South Korea suggests that Iran’s attacks put pressure on existing missile defenses and the available stockpile of interceptors in the region.
The New York Times reported April 26 that, “The Pentagon used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles in the war, at more than $4 million a pop, and more than 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS ground-based missiles than, leaving inventories worrisomely low,” according to internal Defense Department estimates and congressional officials.”
Bunson did acknowledge that the United States had moved radars out of South Korea before Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025. He said some of what was transferred ahead of the June strikes “have not come back yet.”
U.S., Gulf Arab-state, and Israeli missile defense systems have proven successful against Iranian systems. Experts assess that 90-92 percent of Iranian missiles are intercepted. But Iran also launched maneuverable missiles and systems armed with cluster munitions, or multiple small bombs that are more challenging to intercept.
The United States also redeployed Patriot missile systems from the Indo-Pacific and Europe, according to reports from the Associated Press in March 2026.
The Patriot missile defense system is designed to intercept drones, cruise missiles, and short-range ballistic missiles. A Patriot system includes radar, launchers, and interceptor missiles.
After Iran fired ballistic missiles toward Turkey in early March, the United States moved two Patriot systems from Germany to Turkey, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defense. Other Patriot systems were repositioned toward the Middle East, the official quoted by Associated Press said. The redeployments have raised concerns in Europe about defending against Russian threats, according to European officials.