The United States is to deploy a THAAD missile defense battery to defend its bases on the Pacific island of Guam, the Pentagon said Wednesday following threats from North Korea.

The news that the ground-based system would be in place in the coming weeks came after two Aegis anti-missile destroyers were sent to the western Pacific to intercept any North Korean strike against US or allied targets.

The THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) is a truck-mounted system that can pinpoint an enemy missile launch, track the projectile and launch an interceptor to bring it down.

Guam is a US island territory 2,100 miles (3,380 kilometers) southeast of North Korea in the Pacific Ocean and is home to 6,000 American military personnel, including Marines and submarine and bomber crews.