About Patriot Missile System:
- Patriot, short for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a mobile surface-to-air missile defense system.
- It was originally developed byS. weapons maker Raytheon Technologies.
- The system can intercept aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles, depending on the interceptor used.
- It is the United States Army’s most advanced air defense system.
- The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, with batteries protecting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel, and later used during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
- Nineteen countries now operate the Patriot system, including the S., Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
- Features:
- A Patriot battery (i.e., the basic firing unit) consists of a phased array radar, an engagement control station, computers, power generating equipment, and launchers, each of which holds four ready-to-fire missiles.
- It is equipped with a track-via-missile (TVM) guidance system. Midcourse correction commands are transmitted to the guidance system from the mobile engagement control centre.
- The system's radar has a range of over 150 km and can simultaneously track up to 100 potential targets.
- The system has different capabilities depending on the type of interceptor used.
- The PAC-2 interceptor uses a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the newer PAC-3 missile uses more advanced hit-to-kill technology.
- Depending on the version in use, the interceptor missiles can reach an altitude of more than 24 kilometers.
