Iran Destroyed a $500M U.S. THAAD Missile Defense Radar in Jordan — Satellite Images Confirm
Satellite images show Iran destroyed the AN/TPY-2 radar for a U.S. THAAD missile battery at a Jordanian air base in the first days of the war — 500+ miles from Iran. The radar, worth $300-500M, is critical to U.S. missile defense across the Gulf. Similar sites in the UAE were also hit.
Satellite imagery taken on March 2, 2026 shows debris surrounding a blackened THAAD radar at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan — confirming that Iran destroyed the AN/TPY-2 transportable radar system in the first days of Operation Epic Fury.
The AN/TPY-2 is manufactured by Raytheon and is the critical sensor component of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. It detects and tracks incoming ballistic missiles, directing interceptors to destroy them. Without the radar, the THAAD battery is blind. The system is valued at $300-500 million.
The strike is significant on multiple levels:
- The base is in Jordan — over 500 miles from Iran. Iran demonstrated the ability to strike deep behind American lines with precision
- Buildings housing similar radar systems in the UAE were also hit, though damage to those is unclear
- Iranian strikes targeted radar installations, satellite communications terminals, and radomes across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia — a systematic campaign to degrade the entire U.S. missile defense sensor network
- Losing the THAAD radar degrades the ability to detect and intercept future Iranian missile strikes — making American forces and allies more vulnerable, not less
Combined with the $300M AWACS destroyed at Prince Sultan, the $270M in F-15Es lost to Kuwaiti friendly fire, and the F-15E shot down by Iran, total confirmed U.S. equipment losses now exceed $1 billion — in a war the president says is "nearing completion" with "victories like few have seen."
Iran's strategy is clear: instead of fighting the U.S. Air Force head-on, systematically destroy the sensors, radars, and support infrastructure that make American air power effective. It's working.