US plans for Guam missile base seen as countering strength of China

The US is planning to station anti-ballistic-missile systems on the Pacific island of Guam, a move ostensibly to defend against unpredictable North Korea and to counter China.
Within Washington's defence plans for next year are provisions for siting terminal high-altitude area defence (Thaad) systems on the island territory, combined with the broader realignment of US forces in the Asia-Pacific region.
Under those movements, United States troop numbers on the Japanese island of Okinawa are due to be cut, with troops from the Futenma air station relocated to an enlarged base in the northeast of the prefecture, while others will be reassigned to Guam, South Korea and Australia.
Thaad systems and Patriot interceptor missiles have been stationed on Guam in the past, supplementing warships.
scmp.com

U.S. to Deploy Anti-Missile System to Guam

The U.S. will deploy a missile- defense system to Guam in coming weeks as a “precautionary move” against North Korea’s ballistic missile threat, the Pentagon said.
“This deployment will strengthen defense capabilities for American citizens in the U.S. territory of Guam and U.S. forces stationed there,” the Defense Department said today in an e- mailed statement.
The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense program, or Thaad, that is being deployed is a land-based system made by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) that uses truck-mounted launchers to intercept missiles. The decision to send it to Guam is the latest U.S. military response to North Korea’s heightened rhetoric. Two Navy destroyers were deployed to the western Pacific this week.
bloomberg