Patriot System

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About Patriot system:

The Patriot is one of the most sought-after defence systems and has been deployed in 18 countries, including the U.S.
- History:
  - Initially developed as a system to intercept high-flying aircraft by Raytheon Technologies, the Patriot was modified in the 1980s to focus on other threats such as ballistic missiles.
  - The programme’s roots can be traced back to the 1960s when the Pentagon was looking to replace the HAWK and Nike-Hercules air defence systems.
Currently, Patriot batteries can defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, jets and “other threats”, but it doesn’t offer protection against low-flying small drones.
A mobile Patriot system includes a control centre, a radar station to detect threats, missile launchers to take out those threats and other support vehicles.
It can launch different types of interceptor missiles: The older PAC-1 and PAC-2 interceptors used a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the newer PAC-3 missile has a more advanced hit-to-kill technology.
The Patriot system’s radar has a range of over 150 km and it can track over 50 potential targets at the same time.

Q1) What is the meaning of Patriot missile?

The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target is a surface-to-air missile built by Raytheon Technologies Corp.considered to be one of the most advanced air defence systems in the U.S. arsenal.

Source: America’s missile defence umbrella