The THAAD's X-band radar, or the AN/TPY-2 radar, reportedly has two versions: forward-based mode (FBM) and terminal mode (TM) that are the same in hardware and different in software and communications system.
The terminal mode, which Seoul is seeking to adopt, has a maximum detecting range of 600 km, while the forward mode can track missiles as far as 1,800 km. As the two have the same hardware, the terminal mode can be converted into the forward mode when necessary.
Seeing a rise in demand for the U.S. anti-missile system among South Korea's ruling party lawmakers as a sign of imminent deployment, Russian Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Timonin expressed opposition to the U.S. air defense system in early February.
Timonin called for all relevant parties to exercise restraint, saying that the THAAD deployment in South Korea will not give any help or benefit to regional peace and stability and in resolving a nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula.
The THAAD issue caused mixed reactions among South Korean politicians. Lee Jong-Geol, floor leader of the main opposition Minju Party, appeared in a program of local broadcaster MBC on Sunday, saying that his party hasn't opposed to discussions on the THAAD deployment "unconditionally."
"What's important is that China and Russia is thinking of the THAAD as a strategy toward them, not toward North Korea (DPRK)," said Lee.
He noted that if such situations continue, the THAAD deployment will escalate regional tensions and endanger the peninsula's peace.
Refuting Lee's comments, ruling Saenuri Party floor leader Won Yoo-chul told the same TV program that the THAAD is the only available tool to effectively deter the DPRK's nuclear and missile threats.
SUSPICIOUS EFFECTIVENESS
Operational effectiveness of the THAAD has long fallen under suspicion as the U.S. air defense system aims to track and destroy missiles at an altitude of 40-150 km during the terminal phase of flight. It means an interception of missiles just inside or outside of the stratosphere after the missiles begin falling closer to the ground.
Most of DPRK missiles directly targeting South Korea fly at a much lower altitude, propping up suspicion about the THAAD's effectiveness in the South Korean territory. Pyongyang is known to have about 400 Scud missiles with a 300-700 km range and around 300 Rodong missiles that can hit targets as far as 1,200 km.
The 700 attack missiles and other shorter-range arsenal, including multiple rocket launchers deployed in border areas, fly at an altitude of less than 20 km, being capable of striking Seoul within a minute and the entire South Korea in 10 minutes.
The number of the DPRK's longer-range Musudan missiles, capable of reaching at least 3,000 km, was estimated at 30-50, while the Pentagon estimated that Pyongyang had six KN-08 missiles, believed to be a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can fly as far as 10,000 km to reach part of the U.S. mainland.
One of prominent missile defense experts opposing the THAAD deployment in South Korea worried that the U.S. missile defense system may prove useless as the DPRK showed capability to self-destruct a propellant into hundreds of pieces.
