- The Pentagon recently said that it will send additional Patriot air defence missile system
battalions to the Middle East in response to recent attacks on U.S. troops in the region. - The Patriot (MIM-104), which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on
Target, is the S. Army’s most advanced air defense system. - It Is an all-weather surface-to-air missile defense system to counter tactical ballistic
missiles, cruise missiles, and advanced aircraft. - It was developd by Raytheon, an American multinational aerospace and defense
conglomerate. - The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, with batteries protecting
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel, and was later used during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in
2003. - It Is in service with the US and allied countries, including Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan,
Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Poland, Sweden, Qatar, the United
Arab Emirates, Romania, Spain, and Taiwan. - It is a mobile system that usually includes powerful radar, a control station, a power
generator, launch stations, and other support vehicles. - Depending on the version in use, the interceptor missiles can reach an altitude of more
than 24 kilometres and hit targets up to 160 kilometres away. - Its radar can track up to 50 targets and engage five of them at once.
- 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. - A Patriot battery can need as many as 90 troops to operate and maintain it.
