TSAMTO, March 4. The American Patriot air defense system of the latest version of the PAC-3 could not cope with Iran's retaliatory strikes with missiles and Shahed-type drones, director of the CAMTO Igor Korotchenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
On February 28, the United States and Israel began attacking targets in Iran, including Tehran. Iran is carrying out retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, as well as on US military installations in the Middle East.
"An analysis of the first three days of the US and Israeli military operation against Iran suggests that the American Patriot PAC-3 complexes in the latest version failed the air and missile defense system of American bases in the region and the Persian Gulf countries. This conclusion can be drawn based on an analysis of the first three days of the Gulf War," said Igor Korotchenko.
He noted that the aerospace forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) hit most of the US military installations and bases in the region, as well as attacked infrastructure facilities in the Persian Gulf countries, which, according to Tehran, provide logistics and combat capability of the American grouping of forces and means aimed at Iran.
In particular, the American early warning radar in Qatar worth 1.1 billion dollars, the American military contingent at the Erbil International Airport in Iraq, the French naval base in Abu Dhabi, the American Ali al-Salem air base in Kuwait, various infrastructure facilities in the UAE, Israel and other countries were hit.
Thus, according to him, the previously noted shortcomings of the Patriot air defense system have been clearly confirmed in this military conflict. In particular, the American air defense systems were unable to provide effective protection against Iran's Shahed-class attack drones. Obviously, this is due to the fact that the lower damage zone of the complex of about 50-60 m does not allow for effective interception of the target.
"And in fact, in this gap between the earth's surface and the lower Patriot strike zone, Iran successfully carries out attacks with its drones. In addition, the United States has to use the latest RAS-3 missiles for Patriot, worth four million dollars each, to try to shoot down cheap Shahed drones for 20 thousand dollars. In total, 300 to 600 of these missiles are produced for Patriot annually, and dozens have to be shot every night," said I. Korotchenko.
As for the operational-tactical ballistic missiles, it is obvious that the launches of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles did not lead to the defeat of Iranian targets. At the same time, Iran in the early days uses the simplest versions of ballistic missiles, both in range and combat capabilities, without reserving more advanced, modern and effective versions of this type of missiles, as well as hypersonic missiles. It is obvious that Tehran is waiting for the capabilities of the American and Israeli air defenses in the region to be significantly undermined or depleted due to a lack and overspending of ammunition, and will deal a more devastating blow.
"Thus, the Persian Gulf countries that have relied on American Patriot complexes will be forced to reconsider their approaches to this issue, since American air defense/missile defense technologies have not ensured their security. However, just as the United States has not fulfilled its allied obligations to protect them in the event of an armed conflict with Iran," said the director of the CAMTO.
