CDS (II) 2022 General Knowledge · Question 101 of 120

Correct — A, Anti-Missile system. THAAD is an American anti-ballistic missile system built by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase — that is, during descent or re-entry, on the last leg towards the target. Its interceptor carries no explosive warhead at all; it destroys the incoming missile by hit-to-kill, relying on the kinetic energy of the collision. A battery has an operational range of about 200 km and a flight ceiling of about 150 km, and pairs its launchers with the AN/TPY-2 X-band radar. Before you memorise the stem, notice what the paper printed. The acronym is Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, and before that Theater High Altitude Area Defense — it has never been 'Thermal'. That word is UPSC's own slip in this booklet, and the item is reproduced here exactly as candidates saw it. The tested idea survives the misprint intact, because 'High Altitude Area Defense' already tells you this is something that defends an area from above, and none of the other three options does that.

• (b)Air-launched cruise missile. — A cruise missile is an offensive weapon that flies to a target; THAAD is defensive and is launched from a truck-mounted ground battery, never from an aircraft.
• (c)Aircraft navigation system. — Nothing in THAAD navigates aircraft. Its AN/TPY-2 radar exists to find and track incoming ballistic missiles for the interceptor, not to guide friendly flights.
• (d)Surface-to-air guided weapon. — The near-miss option, and the one that costs marks. A surface-to-air missile in the ordinary sense engages aircraft and other air-breathing targets; THAAD is built specifically against ballistic missiles high in their terminal phase, which is why it is classed as an anti-missile system rather than as air defence. Systems such as the S-400 blur the line by doing both, but THAAD does not.

Ballistic missile defence is organised by the phase of the target's flight. Boost-phase defence strikes the missile as it climbs and is the hardest of the three. Midcourse defence engages it in space, which is the job of American ground-based interceptors and of the ship-based Aegis system. Terminal defence catches it in the last minute as it re-enters the atmosphere, and that is where THAAD sits, above the lower-tier Patriot batteries. India has built its own two-tier scheme on the same logic, with the Prithvi Air Defence interceptor for exo-atmospheric engagement and the Advanced Air Defence for endo-atmospheric.

Two things make this item answerable even if THAAD is unfamiliar. First, 'Area Defense' in the name is decisive: defence, not attack, so the cruise-missile option goes. Second, 'High Altitude' points to something engaging targets well above the reach of ordinary air defence, which is what separates the correct answer from the surface-to-air option. On the printed word 'Thermal', the honest reading is that the paper misprinted 'Terminal'; we have not corrected it, because the bank reproduces what candidates were given. As of the 2022 exam THAAD was in the news mainly over its deployment in South Korea and China's objections to the reach of its radar; by 2025 the United States Army was operating eight batteries and had deployed the system to Israel, Jordan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye, Guam, Hawaii and Wake Island.

• THAAD stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense.
• It intercepts short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of their flight.
• The interceptor carries no warhead and destroys its target by kinetic impact — hit-to-kill.
• Operational range is about 200 km and the flight ceiling about 150 km; the associated radar is the AN/TPY-2.
• Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor; the US Army had eight batteries as of 2025.

• Choosing the surface-to-air option because a THAAD interceptor is fired from the ground at something in the air — the target class is what defines it.
• Assuming an interceptor must explode near its target; THAAD relies on collision alone.
• Confusing THAAD with the Patriot, which handles a lower tier, or with Israel's Iron Dome, which is built against short-range rockets.

As a one-line 'what is it' identification, or inside a statements item on missile defence that mixes THAAD, Patriot, S-400 and Iron Dome.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In India's Ballistic Missile Defence Programme, the Advanced Air Defence interceptor is designed to engage an incoming missile in which region?

  • (a)Outside the atmosphere, in the midcourse phase
  • (b)Inside the atmosphere, in the terminal phase
  • (c)During the boost phase, from a ship
  • (d)Only after the warhead has separated in space

  Answer(b) Inside the atmosphere, in the terminal phase — the exo-atmospheric layer is handled by the Prithvi Air Defence interceptor.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  India procured the S-400 Triumf long-range air defence system from which country?

  • (a)France
  • (b)Israel
  • (c)Russia
  • (d)United States of America

  Answer(c) Russia — the contract for five regiments was signed in October 2018 and deliveries began in December 2021.