"A system is under development in Russia analogous to THAAD, allowing us to intercept medium-range ballistic missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles on a limited scale. It will begin trials soon," Pavel Sozinov said.
Although an integral component of the US Missile Defense Agency's Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), the GMD system was unable to hit its first target since 2008 until simulations held in June.
Meanwhile, easily transportable THAAD systems designed to intercept short-to-medium ballistic missiles during their terminal phase of flight have been deployed in Hawaii and Guam. The United Arab Emirates will reportedly be to the first international buyer of the system by the end of 2015. THAAD X-Band Radars are currently deployed in Israel, Turkey, Qatar and Japan.
