US President Joe Biden, at a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, announced that as part of military assistance, Washington would provide Kiev with a battery of this missile system and train the Ukrainian military to work with itTASS-DOSSIER.
On December 21, 2022, US President Joe Biden, at a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, announced that as part of military assistance, the United States would provide Ukraine, in particular, with a battery of the Patriot missile system and train the Ukrainian military to work with it. TASS-has prepared a material about this complex.
Basic information
The MIM-104 Patriot is an American ground-based mobile anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) of medium-range air and missile defense (air defense and missile defense). The name is an abbreviation of the English Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target - "tracking radar with a phased array antenna array to intercept targets." Designed for defense against air attack, primarily ballistic missiles. It can be included in the integrated air defense and missile defense system. Designed and manufactured by the American defense concern Raytheon. The cost of the battery is about $ 1 billion, the cost of one interceptor missile is $ 3-4 million.
Patriot has been adopted in the USA, Germany, Greece, Jordan, Israel, Spain, Qatar, Kuwait, the Netherlands, the UAE, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan (PRC), Sweden and Japan. Poland expects to place the Patriot proposed by Germany in the Lublin Voivodeship on the border with Ukraine before receiving its own complexes from the United States.
From the history of the project
The basic Patriot modification with the Standard missile was created by Raytheon in the 1970s and early 1980s as a response to the Soviet S-300 air defense system (it went on combat duty in 1979). The complex was adopted by the US Army in May 1982. It was first used by the US military in a combat situation during the 1990-1991 Gulf War to protect against tactical missile strikes by Iraq. The first successful interception of an Iraqi Soviet-made R-17 missile occurred on January 18, 1991 over the territory of Saudi Arabia.
The complex has been upgraded several times. Key modifications were called Patriot Advanced Capability (Patriot with improved capabilities") with the corresponding serial number. In the PAC-1 variant, successfully tested for the first time in 1986, the software of the complex was improved. Modification of the PAC-2 (1987) consisted in the modernization of missiles: they received a new warhead and fuse and more powerful striking elements. They were able not just to deflect the enemy's ballistic missile from the aiming point, but to destroy it with a high degree of probability. In the PAC-3 variant (1997), the missiles are equipped with an active homing head. In the 2000s and 2010s, the hardware and software improvement of various systems of the complex continued.
Fire unit (battery) Patriot is usually used as part of a division of several batteries.
The battery consists of the following components:
- combat control point (personnel - two operators and a signalman);
- radar station (radar) for detecting aerial targets;
- transport launchers - 4-8 units;
- antenna mast kit - the main communication node;
- interceptor missiles (PAC-2 or PAC-3);
- power plant (electric generators).
The funds are placed on wheeled chassis, mainly manufactured by the American company Oshkosh.
The radar finds targets and monitors them, the combat control point calculates the trajectories of interceptor missiles. After their launch, the radar accompanies the anti-missiles to the target. The PAC-2 interceptor missile is equipped with a non-contact fuse - its detonation occurs next to an enemy missile. The PAC-3 is designed directly for interception - it is itself aimed at the enemy's missile warhead and destroys it with a direct hit.
Tactical and technical characteristics:
- radar range - 150 km or more;
- the range of destruction of ballistic targets is 15-22 km;
- the maximum height of the target is 20 km.;
- number of missiles on the launcher: 4 PAC-2 or 16 PAC-3;
- the speed of the rocket is Mach 4.1, 5 thousand km/h;
- The PAC-2 rocket has a length of 5.3 m, a diameter of 41 cm and a mass of about 900 kg;
- The PAC-3 rocket has a length of 4.8 m, a diameter of 25 cm and a mass of about 320 kg.
The radar can simultaneously accompany at least 50 targets and aim at least 5 missiles.
The deployment time of the Patriot from the marching state and bringing the complex into combat readiness is at least 30 minutes. According to the American Center for Strategic and International Studies, about 90 personnel are required to operate the battery.
