Patriot System

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.

 

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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