In today’s world, the threat of having a missile shot at your country is quite high. As such, many countries have developed and implemented missile defense systems to protect their people.
A missile defense system is any sort of technology or system that detects, intercepts or tracks attacking missiles. Since most developed countries have missile weapons options, these defense systems are vital to protecting the safety and security of the country. Today, many countries have these defense systems, including the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, India, Iran, Italy, Israel, Taiwan and Russia.
There are different types of missile defense systems based on the type of missile they defend against, when in the trajectory the interception occurs, and whether or not the interception happens inside the atmosphere. Some common systems based on the type of missile they intercept include:
Strategic: These systems travel long-range ICBM missiles and are found in Russia and the United States.
Theater: These target medium-range missiles and are found in Israel, America, and Russia.
Tactical: Both America and Russia have tactical systems that target tactical ballistic missiles.
Currently, there are only five countries that can hit any part of the globe with a missile. These are Russia, the United States, China, Britain and France. North Korea is working to increase the range of its missiles but is not quite at global capacity. However, measuring missile defense is more challenging. Most countries have only tested these systems, not actually used them in a real scenario, and many countries are not transparent with their test data. Russia claims to have the strongest system, but it does not publish information on its tests. The United States is quite transparent about its tests when compared to other countries, but it also have few details available. Most likely, either Russia or the United States has the strongest defense, but the Russian systems are old and the United States has the most updated systems available.
Country | Defense Systems Name |
---|---|
Algeria | S-400 Triumph | HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) |
Azerbaijan | Barak-8 |
Belarus | S-400 Triumph |
Bulgaria | S-300VM |
China | S-400 Triumph | HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) |
Finland | David’s Sling |
France | Aster 30 SAMP/T |
Germany | David’s Sling | MIM-104 Patriot | Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) |
Greece | S-300VM | MIM-104 Patriot |
Guam | Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) |
India | S-400 Triumph | Barak-8 |
Iran | HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) |
Iraq | HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) |
Israel | David’s Sling | Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) | MIM-104 Patriot | Barak-8 | Iron Dome |
Italy | Aster 30 SAMP/T | Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) |
Japan | Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) | MIM-104 Patriot |
Jordan | MIM-104 Patriot |
Kuwait | MIM-104 Patriot |
Morocco | MIM-104 Patriot | HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) |
Netherlands | MIM-104 Patriot |
Pakistan | HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) |
Poland | MIM-104 Patriot |
Qatar | MIM-104 Patriot |
Romania | MIM-104 Patriot |
Russia | S-400 Triumph | S-300VM |
Saudi Arabia | Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) | MIM-104 Patriot |
Singapore | Aster 30 SAMP/T |
South Korea | Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) | MIM-104 Patriot |
Spain | MIM-104 Patriot |
Sweden | MIM-104 Patriot |
Switzerland | MIM-104 Patriot |
Taiwan | MIM-104 Patriot |
Turkey | S-400 Triumph |
Turkmenistan | HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) |
Ukraine | S-300VM | MIM-104 Patriot |
United Arab Emirates | Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) | MIM-104 Patriot |
United States | Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) | MIM-104 Patriot | Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) | Iron Dome |
Uzbekistan | HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) |
Missile Defense System | World Effectiveness Rank | System Type | Max Range | Weight (Kg) | Length (Meters) | Additional Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) | 5 | Long-range Surface-to-air missile | 200 | Eight missiles by truck launcher unit | ||
S-400 Triumph | 1 | Long-range surface-to-air missile systems | 400 | Four missiles in individual containers | ||
S-300VM | 3 | Surface-to-air missile systems | 200 | - 9M83M/ME: 3,073 kg |- 9M82M/ME: 6,158 kg | - 9M83M/ME: 8. 6 m |- 9M82M/ME: 10.5 m | |
Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) | 8 | Eight missiles PAC-3 | 40 | 312 | The launcher vehicle can be equipped with an armour cabin | |
MIM-104 Patriot | 4 | Long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defense system. | 70 | 900 | 5.8 | |
Iron Dome | 10 | Air defense missile system against short-range artillery rockets | 70 | 90 | 3 | 20 container launchers each with one Tamir missile |
HQ-9 (Hong Qi 9) | 6 | Medium-to-long range surface-to-air missile systems | 125 | Four missiles in an individual container | ||
David’s Sling | 2 | Medium-to-long range air defense missile system | 300 | 400 | 4.5 | Interception range: 40 to 300 km (approximately 25 to 186 miles). |
Barak-8 | 9 | Naval air defense missile system | 16 | 275 | 4.5 | |
Aster 30 SAMP/T | 7 | Long-range surface-to-air missile systems | 100 | 450 | 4.9 |