THAAD and a loud thud: How Gulf countries paid $142 billion to US for a leaky umbrella

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The centerpiece of America’s security umbrella that it promised for the Gulf countries was always its vaunted missile defence systems, especially, Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), paired with Patriot PAC-3 batteries. In the US, defence companies shape the government’s priorities. So, these systems were sold as the gold standard — high-altitude interceptors …

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