The MIM-104 Patriot is a mobile interceptor missile

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

(SAM) system, the primary such system used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

and derives its name from the

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

component of the weapon system. The AN/MPQ-53 at the heart of the system is known as the "Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target", which is a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

for "Patriot". In 1984, the Patriot system began to replace the

Nike Hercules The Nike Hercules, initially designated SAM-A-25 and later MIM-14, was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, bu ...

system as the U.S. Army's primary high to medium air defense (HIMAD) system and the

MIM-23 Hawk The Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK ("Homing All the Way Killer") is an American medium-range surface-to-air missile. It was designed to be a much more mobile counterpart to the MIM-14 Nike Hercules, trading off range and altitude capability for a much sm ...

system as the U.S. Army's medium tactical air defense system. In addition to these roles, Patriot has been given a function in the U.S. Army's

anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to Missile defense, destroy in-flight ballistic missiles. They achieve this explosively (chemical or nuclear), or via hit-to-kill Kinetic projectile, kinetic vehicles, which ma ...

(ABM) system. , the system is expected to stay fielded until at least 2040. Patriot uses an advanced aerial interceptor missile and high-performance radar systems. Patriot was developed at

Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

, which had previously developed the

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ABM system and its component

Spartan Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern Pe ...

and

hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds five times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since i ...

Sprint missiles. The symbol for Patriot is a drawing of a Revolutionary War–era minuteman. The MIM-104 Patriot has been widely exported. Patriot was one of the first tactical systems in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to employ lethal autonomy in combat. The system was successfully used against Iraqi missiles in the 2003

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, and has also been used by Saudi and Emirati forces in the Yemen conflict against

Houthi The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely ...

missile attacks. The Patriot system achieved its first undisputed shootdowns of enemy aircraft in the service of the Israeli Air Defense Command. Israeli MIM-104D batteries shot down two

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

s during

Operation Protective Edge The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

in August 2014, and in September 2014, an Israeli Patriot battery shot down a

Syrian Air Force The Syrian Air Force () is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It was established in 1948, and first saw action in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Under Ba'athist Syria until December 8, 2024, it was known as the Syrian Arab Air Forc ...

Sukhoi Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather tactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

which had penetrated the airspace of the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

, achieving the system's first known shootdown of a crewed enemy aircraft.

Introduction

Prior to the Patriot, Raytheon was involved in a number of surface to air missile programs, including FABMDS (Field Army Ballistic Missile Defense System), AADS-70 (Army Air-Defense System – 1970) and SAM-D (Surface-to-Air Missile – Development). In 1975, the SAM-D missile successfully engaged a drone at the White Sands Missile Range. In 1976, it was renamed the PATRIOT Air Defense Missile System. The MIM-104 (Mobile Interceptor Missile 104) Patriot combined several new technologies, including the MPQ-53

passive electronically scanned array A passive electronically scanned array (PESA), also known as passive phased array, is an antenna in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions (that is, a phased array antenna), in which all the ...

radar and

track-via-missile Track-via-missile or TVM refers to a missile guidance technique which combines features of semi-active radar homing (SARH) and radio command guidance. This avoids the problems with terminal accuracy normally seen by command guided missiles, espec ...

guidance. Full-scale development of the system began in 1976 and it was deployed in 1984. Patriot was used initially as an anti-aircraft system. In 1988, it received an upgrade providing limited capability against

tactical ballistic missile A tactical ballistic missile (TBM), or battlefield range ballistic missile (BRBM), is a ballistic missile designed for short-range battlefield use. Typically, range (aeronautics), range is less than . Tactical ballistic missiles are usually mo ...

s (TBM), designated PAC-1 (Patriot Advanced Capability 1). The most recent upgrade by manufacturer Lockheed Martin, designated PAC-3, is a nearly total system redesign of the interceptor missiles, this time designed from the outset with the capability to engage and destroy tactical ballistic missiles. The Army plans to upgrade the Patriot system as part of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense system which will be designed to tie into a broader air defense architecture using an Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS).

Patriot equipment

Soldiers from the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade at work

The Patriot system has four major operational functions: communications, command and control, radar surveillance, and missile guidance. The four functions combine to provide a coordinated, secure, integrated, mobile air defense system. The Patriot system is modular and highly mobile. A battery-sized element can be installed in less than an hour. All components, consisting of the fire control section (radar set, engagement control station, antenna mast group, electric power plant) and launchers, are truck- or trailer-mounted. The radar set and launchers (with missiles) are mounted on M860 semi-trailers, which are towed by Oshkosh M983 HEMTTs. Missile reloading is accomplished using a M985 HEMTT truck with a Hiab crane on the back. This crane is larger than the standard Grove cranes found on regular M977 HEMTT and M985 HEMTT cargo body trucks. The crane truck, known as a Guided Missile Transporter (GMT), removes spent missile canisters from the launcher and replaces them with fresh missiles. Because the crane nearly doubles the height of the HEMTT when not stowed, crews informally refer to it as the "scorpion tail". A standard M977 HEMTT with a regular-sized crane is sometimes referred to as the Large Repair Parts Transporter (LRPT). The heart of the Patriot battery is the fire control section, consisting of the AN/MPQ-53 or −65/65A Radar Set (RS), the AN/MSQ-104 or −132 Engagement Control Station (ECS), the OE-349 Antenna Mast Group (AMG), and the EPP-III Electric Power Plant (EPP). The system's missiles are transported on and launched from either the M901 Launching Station (LS), which can carry up to four PAC-2 missiles; the M902 LS, with sixteen PAC-3 missiles; or the M903 LS, which can be configured to carry PAC-2, PAC-3, and MSE/SkyCeptor missiles in various combinations. A Patriot

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

is also equipped with the Information Coordination Central (ICC), a command station designed to coordinate the launches of a battalion and uplink Patriot to the

JTIDS The Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) is an L band Distributed Time Division Multiple Access (DTDMA) network radio system used by the United States Department of Defense and their allies to support data communications needs, ...

or MIDS network.

AN/MPQ-53, -65 and -65A Radar Set

The AN/MPQ-53/65 Radar Set is a

radar equipped with

IFF In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (often shortened as "iff") is paraphrased by the biconditional, a logical connective between statements. The biconditional is true in two cases, where either both ...

, electronic counter-countermeasure (ECCM), and

(TVM) guidance subsystems. The AN/MPQ-53 Radar Set supports PAC-2 units, while the AN/MPQ-65 Radar Set supports PAC-2 and PAC-3 units. The main difference between these two radars is the addition of a second

travelling-wave tube A traveling-wave tube (TWT, pronounced "twit") or traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA, pronounced "tweeta") is a specialized vacuum tube that is used in electronics to amplify radio frequency (RF) signals in the microwave range. It was invented ...

(TWT), which gives the −65 radar increased search, detection, and tracking capability. The radar antenna array consists of over 5,000 elements that "deflect" the radar beam many times per second. The radar antenna array contains an IFF interrogator subsystem, a TVM array, and at least one "sidelobe canceller" (SLC), which is a small array designed to decrease interference that might affect the radar. Patriot's radar is somewhat unusual in that it is a "detection-to-kill" system, meaning that a single unit performs all search, identification, track, and engagement functions. Most other SAM systems, by contrast, require several different radars to perform all functions necessary to detect and engage targets. The beam created by the Patriot's flat phased array radar is comparatively narrow and highly agile compared to that of a moving dish. This characteristic gives the radar the ability to detect small, fast targets like ballistic missiles, or low

radar cross-section Radar cross-section (RCS), denoted σ, also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy b ...

targets such as

stealth aircraft Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of technologies that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, collectively known as stealth technology. The F-117 Ni ...

cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...

s. The power and agility of Patriot's radar is also highly resistant to countermeasures, including

ECM ECM may refer to the following: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...

, radar jamming, and use of RWR equipment. Patriot is capable of quickly changing frequencies to resist jamming. However, the radar can suffer from "blind spots." Raytheons GaN-based AESA Radar Prototype

Raytheons GaN-based AESA Radar Prototype

The Army is planning upgrades to the Patriot system's radar components, including a new digital processor that replaces the one used since the system's introduction. In 2017, the Patriot got a new AN/MPQ-65A

active electronically scanned array An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled antenna array in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the a ...

(AESA) radar that has greater range and sharper discrimination. The main

gallium nitride Gallium nitride () is a binary III/ V direct bandgap semiconductor commonly used in blue light-emitting diodes since the 1990s. The compound is a very hard material that has a Wurtzite crystal structure. Its wide band gap of 3.4 eV af ...

(GaN)-based AESA array measures , is a bolt-on replacement for the current antenna, and is oriented toward the primary threat; two new rear panel arrays are a quarter the size of the main array and let the system look behind and to the sides, providing 360-degree coverage. The GaN AESA radar also has up to 50 percent less maintenance costs. Instead of shining a single transmitter through many lenses, the GaN array uses many smaller transmitters, each with its own control, increasing flexibility and allowing it to work even if some transmitters do not. In October 2017, the Army announced Raytheon's Lower-Tier Air and Missile Defense System (LTAMDS) radar had been selected as the Patriot system's new radar. Unlike the previous radar which could only watch one part of the sky at a time primarily to detect ballistic missiles, the LTAMDS has 360-degree coverage to detect low flying and maneuvering drones and cruise missiles. The design has one large main array flanked by two smaller arrays, with the main panel still focused on high-altitude threats and the side panels, which are half the size with twice the power of the previous radar set, able to detect slower threats from considerable distance. Raytheon was awarded a million contract to build the first six radars to enter service in 2022.

AN/MSQ-104 and -132 Engagement Control Station

The AN/MSQ-104 or AN/MSQ-132 Engagement Control Station (ECS) is the nerve center of the Patriot firing battery, costing approximately million per unit. The ECS consists of a shelter mounted on the bed of an M927 5-Ton Cargo Truck or on the bed of a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV) cargo truck. The main subcomponents of the ECS are the Weapons Control Computer (WCC), the Data Link Terminal (DLT), the

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

communications array, the Routing Logic Radio Interface Unit (RLRIU), and the two-person stations that serve as the system's human machine interface. The ECS is air conditioned, pressurized (to resist chemical/biological attack), and shielded against

electromagnetic pulse An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also referred to as a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. The origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic field, as an ...

(EMP) or other such electromagnetic interference. The ECS also contains several

SINCGARS Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) is a VHF combat network radio (CNR) used by U.S. and allied military forces. In the CNR network, the SINCGARS’ primary role is voice transmission between surface and airborne comman ...

radios to facilitate voice communications. The WCC is the main computer within the Patriot system. This computer controls the operator interface, calculates missile intercept algorithms, and provides limited fault diagnostics. It was designed as a 24-bit parallel militarized computer with fixed- and floating-point capability, organized in a multiprocessor configuration that operates at a maximum clock rate of . Compared to modern personal computers, this represents very limited processing power, so the computer has been upgraded several times during Patriot's service life. The latest variant fielded in 2013 has performance improved by several orders of magnitude. The DLT connects the ECS to Patriot's Launching Stations. It uses either a

radio or fiber optic cables to transmit encrypted data between the ECS and the launchers. Through the DLT, the system operators can remotely emplace, slew or stow launchers, perform diagnostics on launchers or missiles, and fire missiles. The UHF communications array consists of three UHF radio "stacks" and their associated patching and encrypting equipment. These radios are connected to the antennas of the OE-349 Antenna Mast Group, which are used to create UHF "shots" between sister Patriot batteries and their associated ICC. This creates a secure, real-time data network (known as PADIL, Patriot Data Information Link) that allows the ICC to centralize control of its subordinate firing batteries. The RLRIU functions as the primary router for all data coming into the ECS. The RLRIU gives a firing battery an address on the battalion data network, and sends/receives data from across the battalion. It also "translates" data coming from the WCC to the DLT, facilitating communication with the launchers. Patriot's crew stations are referred to as Manstation 1 and 3 (MS1 and MS3). These are the stations where Patriot operators interface with the system. The manstations consist of a monochrome (green and black) screen surrounded by various Switch Indicators. Each manstation also has a traditional

QWERTY QWERTY ( ) is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top letter row of the keyboard: . The QWERTY design is based on a layout included in the Sh ...

keyboard and isometric stick, a tiny

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Also known as the control column, it is the principal control devic ...

that functions much like a PC

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. It is through these switch indicators and the Patriot user interface software that the system is operated. With newer upgrades, the operator's monochrome screen and physical switches have been replaced with two touchscreen LCDs and a standard keyboard/mouse at both stations.

OE-349 Antenna Mast Group

The OE-349 Antenna Mast Group (AMG) is mounted on an M927 5-Ton Cargo Truck. It includes four 4 kW antennas in two pairs on remotely controlled masts. Emplacement of the AMG can have no greater than a 0.5-degree roll and a 10-degree crossroll. The antennas can be controlled in azimuth, and the masts can be elevated up to above ground level. Mounted at the base of each pair of antennas are two high-power amplifiers associated with the antennas and the radios in the co-located shelter. It is through these antennas that the ECS and ICC send their respective UHF "shots" to create the PADIL network. The polarity of each shot can be changed by adjusting the "feedhorn" to a vertical or horizontal position. This enables a greater chance of communication shots reaching their intended target when terrain obstacles may otherwise obscure the signal.

EPP-III Electric Power Plant

The EPP-III Diesel-Electric Power Plant (EPP) is the power source for the ECS and Radar. The EPP consists of two 150 kilowatt diesel engines with 400 hertz, 3-phase generators that are interconnected through the power distribution unit. The generators are mounted on a trailer or modified M977 HEMTT. Each EPP has two fuel tanks and a fuel distribution assembly with grounding equipment. Each diesel engine can operate for more than eight hours with a full fuel tank. The EPP delivers its power to the Radar and ECS through cables stored in reels alongside the generators. It powers the AMG via a cable routed through the ECS.

M901/902/903 Launching Station

The M90x Launching Stations are remotely operated, self-contained units. The ECS controls operation of the launchers through each launcher's DLT, via fiber optic or VHF (SINCGARS) data link. Integral levelling equipment permits emplacement on slopes of up to 10 degrees. Each launcher is trainable in azimuth and elevates to a fixed, elevated launch position. Precise aiming of the launcher before launch is not necessary; thus, no extra lags are introduced into system reaction time. Each launcher is capable of providing detailed diagnostics to the ECS via the data link. The launching station contains four major equipment subsystems: the launcher generator set, the launcher electronics module (LEM), the launcher mechanics assembly (LMA), and the launcher interconnection group (LIG). The generator set consists of a 15 kW, 400 Hz generator that powers the launcher. The LEM is used for the real-time implementation of launcher operations requested via data link from the ECS. The LMA physically erects and rotates the launcher's platform and its missiles. The LIG connects the missiles themselves to the launcher via the Launcher Missile Round Distributor (LMRD).

Patriot guided missile

The first fielded variant was the MIM-104A "Standard". It was optimized solely for engagements against aircraft and had very limited capability against ballistic missiles. It had a range of , and a speed in excess of Mach 2. The MIM-104B "anti-standoff jammer" (ASOJ) is a missile designed to seek out and destroy

emitters. The MIM-104C PAC-2 missile was the first Patriot missile that was optimized for ballistic missile engagements. The GEM series of missiles (MIM-104D/E) are further refinements of the PAC-2 missile. The PAC-3 missile is a new interceptor, featuring a Ka band active radar seeker, employing "hit-to-kill" interception, in contrast to previous interceptors' method of exploding in the vicinity of the target, destroying it with shrapnel, and several other enhancements which dramatically increase its lethality against ballistic missiles. The specific information for these different kinds of missiles are discussed in the "

Variants Variant may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Variant'' (magazine), a former British cultural magazine * Variant cover, an issue of comic books with varying cover art * ''Variant'' (novel), a novel by Robison Wells * " The Variant", 2021 epis ...

" section. The first seven of these are in the larger PAC-2 configuration of a single missile per canister, of which four can be placed on a launcher. PAC-3 missile canisters contain four missiles, so that sixteen rounds can be placed on a launcher. The missile canister serves as both the shipping and storage container and the launch tube. Patriot missiles are referred to as "certified rounds" as they leave the factory, and additional maintenance is not necessary on the missile prior to it being launched. The PAC-2 missile is long, weighs about , and is propelled by a solid-fueled rocket motor.

Patriot missile design

The PAC-2 family of missiles all have a fairly standard design, the only differences between the variants being certain internal components. They consist of (from front to rear) the

radome A radome (a portmanteau of "radar" and "dome") is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna (radio), antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weathe ...

, guidance section, warhead section, propulsion section, and control actuator section. The radome is made of slip cast fused silica approximately thick, with a nickel alloy tip, and a composite base attachment ring bonded to the slip cast fused silica and protected by a molded silicone rubber ring. The radome provides an aerodynamic shape for the missile and

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...

window and thermal protection for the RF seeker and electronic components. The Patriot guidance section consists primarily of the modular digital airborne guidance system (MDAGS). The MDAGS consists of a modular midcourse package that performs all of the required guidance functions from launch through midcourse and a terminal guidance section. The TVM seeker is mounted on the guidance section, extending into the radome. The seeker consists of an antenna mounted on an inertial platform, antenna control electronics, a receiver, and a transmitter. The Modular Midcourse Package (MMP), which is located in the forward portion of the warhead section, consists of the navigational electronics and a missile-borne computer that computes the guidance and autopilot algorithms and provides steering commands according to a resident computer program. The warhead section, just aft of the guidance section, contains the

proximity fuze A Proximity Fuse (also VT fuse or "variable time fuze") is a fuse that detonates an explosive device automatically when it approaches within a certain distance of its target. Proximity fuses are designed for elusive military targets such as air ...

d warhead, safety-and-arming device, fuzing circuits and antennas, link antenna switching circuits, auxiliary electronics, inertial sensor assembly, and signal data converter. The propulsion section consists of the

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

motor, external heat shield, and two external conduits. The rocket motor includes the case, nozzle assembly, propellant, liner and insulation, pyrogen igniter, and propulsion arming and firing unit. The casing of the motor is an integral structural element of the missile airframe. It contains a conventional, casebonded solid rocket propellant. The Control Actuator Section (CAS) is at the aft end of the missile. It receives commands from the missile autopilot and positions the fins. The missile fins steer and stabilize the missile in flight. A fin servo system positions the fins. The fin servo system consists of

hydraulic Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

actuators and valves and an electrohydraulic power supply. The electrohydraulic power consists of a battery, motor pump, oil reservoir, gas pressure bottle, and accumulator.

Variants

MIM-104A

Patriot was first introduced with a single missile type: the MIM-104A. This was the initial "Standard" missile, still known as "Standard" today. In Patriot's early days, the system was used exclusively as an anti-aircraft weapon, with no capability against ballistic missiles. This was remedied during the late 1980s when Patriot received its first major system overhaul with the introduction of the Patriot Advanced Capability missile and concurrent system upgrades.

MIM-104B (PAC-1)

Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-1), known today as the PAC-1 upgrade, was a software-only upgrade. The most significant aspects of this upgrade were changing the way the radar searched and the way the system defended its assets. Instead of searching low to the horizon, the top of the radar's search angle was lifted to near vertical (89 degrees) from the previous angle of 25 degrees. This was done as a counter to the steep parabolic trajectory of inbound ballistic missiles. The search beams of the radar were tightened, and while in "TBM search mode" the "flash," or the speed at which these beams were shot out, was increased significantly. While this increased the radar's detection capability against the ballistic missile threat set, it decreased the system's effectiveness against traditional atmospheric targets, as it reduced the detection range of the radar as well as the number of "flashes" at the horizon. Because of this, it was necessary to retain the search functions for traditional atmospheric threats in a separate search program, which could be easily toggled by the operator based on the expected threat. The ballistic missile defense capability changed the way Patriot defended targets. Instead of being used as a system to defend a significant area against enemy air attack, it was now used to defend much smaller "point" targets, which needed to lie within the system's TBM "footprint". The footprint is the area on the ground that Patriot can defend against inbound ballistic missiles. During the 1980s, Patriot was upgraded in relatively minor ways, mostly via its software. The most significant of these was a special upgrade to discriminate and intercept artillery rockets in the vein of the

multiple rocket launcher A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon ...

, which was seen as a significant threat from North Korea. This feature has not been used in combat and has since been deleted from

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Patriot systems, though it remains in South Korean systems. Another upgrade the system saw was the introduction of another missile type, designated MIM-104B and called "anti stand-off jammer" (ASOJ) by the Army. This variant is designed to help Patriot engage and destroy

aircraft at standoff ranges. It works similar to an

anti-radiation missile An anti-radiation missile (ARM) is a missile designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically, these are designed for use against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communications can also be ta ...

in that it flies a highly lofted trajectory and then locates, homes in on, and destroys the most significant emitter in an area designated by the operator.

MIM-104C (PAC-2)

During the late 1980s, tests began to indicate that, although Patriot was certainly capable of intercepting inbound ballistic missiles, it was questionable whether the MIM-104A/B missile was capable of destroying them reliably. This necessitated the introduction of the PAC-2 missile and system upgrade. For the system, the PAC-2 upgrade was similar to the PAC-1 upgrade. Radar search algorithms were further optimized, and the beam protocol while in "TBM search" was further modified. PAC-2 saw Patriot's first major missile upgrade, with the introduction of the MIM-104C, or PAC-2 missile. This missile was optimized for ballistic missile engagements. Major changes to the PAC-2 missile were the size of the projectiles in its blast-fragmentation warhead, changed from around 2 grams to around 45 grams, and the timing of the

pulse-Doppler radar A pulse-Doppler radar is a radar system that determines the range to a target using pulse-timing techniques, and uses the Doppler effect of the returned signal to determine the target object's velocity. It combines the features of pulse radars and ...

fuze, which was optimized for high-speed engagements, though it retained its old algorithm for aircraft engagements if necessary. Engagement procedures were optimized, changing the method of fire the system used to engage ballistic missiles. Instead of launching two missiles in an almost simultaneous salvo, a brief delay between 3 and 4 seconds was added, in order to allow the second missile launched to discriminate a ballistic missile warhead in the aftermath of the explosion of the first. PAC-2 was first tested in 1987 and reached Army units in 1990, just in time for deployment to the Middle East for the

Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. It was there that Patriot was first regarded as a successful ABM system and proof that ballistic missile defense was indeed possible. The complete study on its effectiveness remains classified. In April 2013,

received U.S. Army approval for a second recertification, extending the operational life of the worldwide inventory of Patriot missiles from 30 to 45 years.

MIM-104D (PAC-2/GEM)

There were more upgrades to PAC-2 systems throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century, mostly centering on software. The PAC-2 missiles were modified significantly—four separate variants became known collectively as guidance enhanced missiles (GEM). The main upgrade to the original GEM missile was a new, faster proximity fuzed warhead. Tests had indicated that the fuze on the original PAC-2 missiles were detonating their warheads too late when engaging ballistic missiles with an extremely steep ingress, and as such it was necessary to shorten this fuze delay. The GEM missile was given a new "low

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

" seeker head designed to reduce interference in front of the missile's radar seeker, and a higher performance seeker designed to better detect low

targets. The GEM was used extensively in

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

(OIF), during which air defense was highly successful.

MIM-104E (PAC-2/GEM+)

Just prior to OIF, it was decided to further upgrade the GEM and PAC-2 missiles. This upgrade program produced missiles known as the GEM-T and the GEM-C, the "T" designator referring to tactical ballistic missiles, and the "C" designator referring to cruise missiles. These missiles were both given a totally new nose section, which was designed specifically to be more effective against low altitude, low RCS targets like cruise missiles. The GEM-T was given a new fuze which was further optimized against ballistic missiles and a new low noise oscillator which increases the seeker's sensitivity to low radar cross-section targets. The GEM-C is the upgraded version of the GEM, and the GEM-T is the upgraded version of the PAC-2. The GEM+ entered service in November 2002. In 2018, Raytheon upgraded the GEM-T guidance system with solid-state gallium nitride (GaN) transmitters. A consortium of Patriot operators consisting of Germany, Romania, Spain, and the Netherlands has placed an order for 1,000 PAC-2 GEM-T missiles, with the bulk of production to take place in Germany by

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems. Domestic U.S. production of PAC-2 GEM-T missiles remains ongoing, with a contracted backlog of approximately 1,500 missiles and a near-term demand of an additional 1,000 missiles, while the company is producing roughly 20 missiles a month with plans to expand to 35 missiles a month by the end of 2027.

MIM-104F (PAC-3)

The PAC-3 upgrade is a significant upgrade to nearly every aspect of the system. It took place in three stages deployed in 1995, 1996 and 2000, and units were designated Configuration 1, 2, or 3. New software update known as PDB 5 (PDB standing for "post deployment build") was released in 1999 with initial support for Configuration-3 ground units and PAC-3 missiles. The system itself saw another upgrade of its WCC, and the communication setup was given a complete overhaul. Due to this upgrade, PAC-3 operators can now see, transmit, and receive tracks on the

Link 16 Link 16 is a military tactical data link network used by NATO members and other nations, as allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO). Its specification is part of the family of Tactical Data Links. Link 16 enables military aircra ...

Command and Control (C2) network using a Class 2M Terminal or MIDS LVT Radio. This capability greatly increases the situational awareness of Patriot crews and other participants on the Link 16 network that are able to receive the Patriot local air picture. The software can now conduct a tailored TBM search, optimizing radar resources for search in a particular sector known to have ballistic missile activity, and can support a "keepout altitude" to ensure ballistic missiles with chemical warheads or early release

submunition A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy veh ...

s (ERS) are destroyed at a certain altitude. For Configuration 3 units, the Patriot radar was completely redesigned, adding another

traveling wave tube A traveling-wave tube (TWT, pronounced "twit") or traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA, pronounced "tweeta") is a specialized vacuum tube that is used in electronics to amplify radio frequency (RF) signals in the microwave range. It was invented ...

(TWT) that increased the radar's search, detection, tracking, and discrimination abilities. The new radar is designated AN/MPQ-65. It is capable, among other things, of discriminating whether an aircraft is crewed and which of multiple reentering ballistic objects are carrying ordnance. The PAC-3 upgrade carried with it a new missile design, nominally known as MIM-104F and called PAC-3 by the Army. First deployed in 1997, the PAC-3 missile evolved from the

Strategic Defense Initiative The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles. The program was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan. Reagan called for a ...

's ERINT missile, and so it is dedicated almost entirely to the anti-ballistic missile mission. Due to miniaturization, a single canister can hold four PAC-3 missiles, as opposed to one PAC-2 missile per canister. The PAC-3 missile is more maneuverable than previous variants, due to 180 tiny pulse solid propellant rocket motors mounted in the forebody of the missile, called Attitude Control Motors, or ACMs, which serve to fine align the missile trajectory with its target to achieve hit-to-kill capability. The most significant upgrade to the PAC-3 missile is the addition of a K_a band

active radar Active may refer to: Music * ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea * "Active" (song), a 2024 song by Asake and Travis Scott from Asake's album ''Lungu Boy'' * Active Records, a record label Ships * ''Active'' (ship), several com ...

seeker. This allows the missile to drop its uplink to the system and acquire its target itself in the terminal phase of its intercept, which improves the reaction time of the missile against a fast-moving ballistic missile target. The PAC-3 missile is accurate enough to select, target, and home in on the warhead portion of an inbound ballistic missile. The active radar gives the warhead a "hit-to-kill" (

kinetic kill vehicle A kinetic energy weapon (also known as kinetic weapon, kinetic energy warhead, kinetic warhead, kinetic projectile, kinetic kill vehicle) is a projectile weapon based solely on a projectile's kinetic energy to inflict damage to a target, inst ...

) capability that eliminates the need for a traditional proximity-fused warhead. The missile still has a small explosive warhead, called a ''lethality enhancer'', a warhead which launches 24 low-speed

tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...

fragments in a radial direction to make the missile cross-section greater and enhance the kill probability. This greatly increases the lethality against ballistic missiles of all types. The PAC-3 upgrade has effectively quintupled the "footprint" that a Patriot unit can defend against ballistic missiles of all types, and has considerably increased the system's lethality and effectiveness against ballistic missiles. It has increased the scope of ballistic missiles that Patriot can engage, which now includes several intermediate ranges. However, despite its increases in ballistic missile defense capabilities, the PAC-3 missile has a shorter range and a smaller explosive warhead compared to older Patriot missiles, making it a less capable interceptor of atmospheric aircraft and

air-to-surface missile An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common prop ...

s. During initial production run, range was increased and other cost-reducing enhancements were incorporated to the PAC-3 missile, with the final variant renamed PAC-3 Cost Reduction Initiative (CRI). Since the PAC-3 ground units can control both M901 PAC-2 launchers and M902/M903 PAC-2/PAC-3 launchers, Patriot batteries employ a mix of PAC-3 hit-to-kill active missiles and PAC-2 GEM-T blast fragmentation warhead semi-active missiles to counter both ballistic missile and aircraft threats. While the PAC-2 is able to intercept targets up to an altitude of , the PAC-3 can destroy incoming missiles at an altitude of . Lockheed Martin proposed an air-launched variant of the PAC-3 missile for use on the

F-15C Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's desi ...

, the

F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American twin-engine, jet-powered, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft. As a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, the aircraft was de ...

and the

P-8A Poseidon The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It was developed for the United States Navy as a derivative of the civilian Boeing 737 Next Generati ...

. According to Lockheed Martin, PAC-3 CRI can be quad-packed into a VLS cell; though the Navy is considering the single-packed PAC-3 MSE version as it's replacement for the SM-2 missile system, PAC-3 CRI is considered a potential follow-on project offering greater magazine depth as a tradeoff for decreased performance compared to PAC-3 MSE.

PAC-3 MSE

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) is one of the four core business areas for American company Lockheed Martin. MFC provides air and missile defense systems; tactical missiles and air-to-ground precision strike weapon systems; logisti ...

is the prime contractor on the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement upgrade (MSE) to the Patriot air defense system which will make the missile more agile and extend its range by up to 50%. MEADS Launch WSMR 2734-1

Patriot's PAC-3 MSE interceptor was selected as the primary interceptor for the new

MEADS Meads is an area of the town of Eastbourne in the England, English county of East Sussex. It is at the westerly end of the town below the South Downs. Boundaries The local government ward of Meads is extensive, stretching from Birling Gap in ...

system when its design and development program began in 2004. MEADS is designed with plug-and-fight capabilities to support data exchange with external sensors and launchers through standardized open protocols for integrated air and missile defense (IAMD), so that MEADS elements can interoperate with allied forces on the move, attaching to and detaching from the battle management network as necessary. MEADS was scheduled to enter service alongside Patriot by 2014, with expectations that existing Patriot batteries will be gradually upgraded with

technology in the long run. Because of economic conditions, in 2013 the U.S. chose to upgrade its Patriot systems instead of buying the MEADS system. Patriot PAC-3 MSE SIAF-2022

The PAC-3 Missile Segment upgrade consists of the PAC-3 MSE missile, a very agile hit-to-kill interceptor, the M903 Launching Station, a fire solution computer, and an Enhanced Launcher Electronics System (ELES). The PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor increases altitude and range through a more powerful dual-pulse motor for added thrust, larger fins that collapse inside current launchers, and other structural modifications for more agility. The PAC-3 MSE is capable of intercepting longer-range theater ballistic missiles. The U.S. Army accepted the first PAC-3 MSE interceptors in October 2015, and Initial Operational Capability (IOC) was declared in August 2016. The new M903 Launching System has a modular design capable of holding a total of 4 PAC-3 launching canisters (16 missiles), 12 PAC-3 MSE canisters (in 3 rows of 4), or 4 PAC-2 GEM canisters.PAC-3 MSE
. Aerojet Rocketdyne. It can mix different missiles, such as 6 PAC-3 MSE canisters (in 3 rows of 2) and either two PAC-3 canisters (8 missiles) or two PAC-2 canisters on the same launcher, down to combinations of a single PAC-2 canister, a single PAC-3 canister (4 missiles), 4 PAC-3 MSE canisters (in 2 rows of 2) or 2 PAC-3 MSE canisters in a single row.PAC-3 MSE Overview. DAL202201001
. Lockheed Martin In December 2023 it was stated that production of Patriot interceptors was 550 a year and would be increased to 650 a year in 2024. In February 2023, Lockheed Martin showcased integration of PAC-3 MSE missile with Mk 41 VLS used by Aegis BMD and Aegis Ashore./ Lockheed announced it is spending $100 million to integrate the missile with the Aegis combat system and plans to test whether it can fire the missiles from a vertical launch system tied into Aegis’s command-and-control technology and the SPY-1 radar in early 2024. In 2024, it was integrated with Aegis and launched from a Mark 70 Payload Delivery System VLS launcher at White Sands Missile Range. The PAC-3 MSE interceptor is viewed as a potential long-term replacement for the SM-2 interceptor due to its "high agility" and proven capabilities for "counter-hypersonic, ballistic missile, and cruise missile defense in various tight envelopes". According to Chris Mang, of Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control division, "the missile’s capabilities are only enhanced when it’s put in a maritime context and paired with the Aegis system, which has a lot more power than the Army’s radar systems." The PAC-3 MSE would fill the gap in engagement envelope at low altitudes and shorter ranges against maneuvering threats, where the SM-6 missile (which must first be boosted to high altitudes before diving down on it target) cannot easily engage; According to Mang, the PAC-3 MSE's miniaturized attitude control motors allow it to engage these targets at ranges under a kilometer. Though PAC-3 MSE is the primary contender for this replacement, PAC-3 CRI missiles are also capable of being fired from the same platforms and are considered a follow-on option if the US Navy shows interest; compared to PAC-3 MSE they provide greater magazine depth (due to quad-pack capability in a VLS cell vs. the MSE's single missile per cell) but are less performant.

SkyCeptor (PAAC-4)

In August 2013, Raytheon and

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. () is an Israeli Defense contractor, defense technology company. It was founded as Israel's National R&D Defense Laboratory for the development of weapons and military technology within the Ministry of Defens ...

announced plans for Patriot Advanced Affordable Capability-4 (PAAC-4), which would integrate the Stunner interceptor from the jointly-funded

David's Sling David's Sling (), also formerly known as Magic Wand (), is an Israel Defense Forces military system jointly developed by the Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the American defense contractor Raytheon, that became ope ...

program with Patriot PAC-3 radars, launchers, and engagement control stations. The two-stage, multimode seeking Stunner would replace single-stage, radar-guided PAC-3 missiles produced by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

, providing improved operational performance at 20 percent of the $2 million unit cost of PAC-3 missiles. Israeli program officials have said that a previous teaming agreement between Raytheon and Rafael would allow the U.S. company to assume prime contractor status, and produce at least 60 percent of the Stunner missile in the United States. In 2016 Raytheon announced that it had been authorized to bid SkyCeptor, a Stunner derivative, as part of its Polish Patriot bid. In March 2017 it was announced that Poland will acquire 8 Patriot batteries, with the majority of missiles deployed being SkyCeptors and only a small number of Patriot PAC-3 MSE missiles. Ultimately, Poland did not procure SkyCeptor missiles, ordering a new short-range air defence system based on CAMM and CAMM-ER missiles, integrated with Patriot batteries through the IBCS battle command system. Electromecanica Ploiești,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, will start local production of SkyCeptor missile interceptors by 2026.

Upgrades

PAC-3 system upgrades continue under the International Engineering Services Program (IESP) which includes all countries that rely on the Patriot for integrated air and missile defense - as of 2022, the United States of America, The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Spain, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Romania, Sweden, Poland, Bahrain, and Switzerland. The PDB 6 software update was released in 2004. This update allowed Configuration-3 to discriminate targets of all types, including

carriers, helicopters,

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

, and

cruise missiles A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...

. The PDB 7 system upgrade was released in 2013. It improves radar search capabilities with a transition to digital signal processing, resulting in much better reliability and 30% longer range comparing to analog circuits. Processing power of the new command and control computer is higher by several orders of magnitude. Operator's monochrome CRT displays with hard-wired buttons were replaced by two color touchscreen LCD monitors. The PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) upgrade was fielded in 2015. It includes a new fin design and a more powerful rocket engine. In 2017, the AN/MPQ-65 radar was upgraded with active electronically scanned array (AESA) solid-state gallium nitride (GaN) transmitters in place of conventional traveling-wave tubes with a passive array of transmitters. The new radar has been redesignated AN/MPQ-65A. It includes a bolt-on replacement antenna array and two smaller rear panel arrays which provide 360-degree coverage. During 2018–2023, Raytheon Company will further enhance the system under a modernization task order from the

, resulting in Configuration-3+. The order includes five annual,

indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity In U.S. Federal government contracting, IDIQ is an abbreviation of the term indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. This is a type of contract that provides for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period of time. The leg ...

task order awards with a total contract ceiling of more than $2.3 billion, funded by Patriot partner states. The initial $235 million award was allocated in January 2018. The PDB 8 upgrade released in 2018 includes redesigned fire control computers which support MSE capabilities, new weapons control computers with increased processing power, and software enhancements to radar search and target detection and identification which help reduce friendly fire incidents. The latest PDB 8.1 software started testing in 2019 and will reach operational status by 2023. It adds a revamped game-style GUI named ''Warfighter to Machine Interface'' (WMI) which employs 3D graphics to render the terrain and the airspace. LTAMDS

Future upgrades to the Patriot system will include the new Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor or LTAMDS with support for a

Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System The United States Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...

Battle Command System (IBCS) is a plug and fight, plug-and-fight network intended to let a radar or any other defensive sensor feed its data to any available weapon—colloquially, ...

(IBCS) - which will integrate Patriot's LTAMDS, AN/MPQ-53 and AN/MPQ-65/65A radars with AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel and AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR,Sydney J. Freedberg Jr
Army IBCS: Joint, Up To A Point
Breaking Defense. 15 May 2020 GhostEye MR (

NASAMS NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, also known as Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a short- to medium-range ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and RTX Corpor ...

), MFCR and SR from

AN/SPY-1 The AN/SPY-1 is a United States Navy passive electronically scanned array (PESA) 3D radar system manufactured by Lockheed Martin, and is a key component of the Aegis Combat System. The system is computer controlled and uses four complementary an ...

and

AN/SPY-6 The AN/SPY-6 is an active electronically scanned array (AESA) 3D radar system developed and built by RTX corporation, formerly Raytheon, and in service with the United States Navy (USN). It provides integrated air and missile defense for Flight ...

( Aegis BMD),

AN/TPY-2 The AN/TPY-2 Surveillance Transportable Radar, also called the Forward Based X-Band Transportable (FBX-T) is a long-range, very high-altitude active digital antenna array X band surveillance radar designed to add a tier to existing missile and a ...

(

THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense, is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in th ...

and GMD) and AN/APG-81 (

F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and att ...

) radars - and Mode 5 transponder interrogation in the

identification friend or foe Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is a combat identification system designed for command and control. It uses a transponder that listens for an ''interrogation'' signal and then sends a ''response'' that identifies the broadcaster. IFF syst ...

system. On February 7, 2025, Raytheon's LTAMDS radar successfully completed a live-fire test, detecting and tracking a high-speed cruise missile and guiding a PAC-2 GEM-T interceptor to neutralize the threat. As part of an ongoing U.S. Army test program, LTAMDS continues advancing toward full deployment, with strong international interest and a $2 billion contract to supply radars to the U.S. and Poland.

Patriot battalion

In the

, the Patriot System is designed around the

echelon. A Patriot battalion consists of a headquarters battery, which includes the Patriot ICC and its operators, a maintenance company, and between four and six " line batteries," which are the actual launching batteries that employ the Patriot systems. Each line battery consists of (nominally) six launchers and three or four

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

s: Fire Control platoon, Launcher platoon, and a Headquarters/Maintenance platoon - either a single platoon or separated into two separate units, at the battery commander's discretion. The Fire Control platoon is responsible for operating and maintaining the "big 4," radar, the engagement control station, the antenna mast group, and the electric power plant. The launcher platoon operates and maintains the launchers. The Headquarters/Maintenance platoon(s) provide the battery with maintenance support and a headquarters section. The Patriot line battery is commanded by a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and usually consists of between 70 and 90 soldiers. The Patriot battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and can include as many as 600 soldiers. Once deployed, the system requires a crew of only three individuals to operate. The Tactical Control Officer (TCO), usually a lieutenant, is responsible for the operation of the system. The TCO is assisted by the Tactical Control Assistant (TCA). Communications are handled by the third crewmember, the communications system specialist. A "hot-crew" composed of an NCOIC (usually a Sergeant) and one or more additional launcher crew members is on-hand to repair or refuel launching stations. A reload crew is on standby to replace spent canisters after missiles are launched. The ICC crew is similar to the ECS crew at the battery level, except its operators are designated as the Tactical Director (TD) and the Tactical Director Assistant (TDA). Patriot battalions prefer to operate in a centralized fashion, with the ICC controlling the launches of all of its subordinate launching batteries through the secure UHF PADIL communications network. The dismounted Patriot ICC (D-PICC) is a set of equipment which is composed of the same hardware as that at battalion level, but which distributes command and control over the launching batteries, which allows the batteries to disperse over a wider geographic area, with no loss of command and control. D-PICC is deploying to Pacific Command first. U.S. Army Patriot battalions have been heavily deployed, and for years maintained the highest operational tempo across any units in the service with the longest deployments.

Operation

Engaging a single aircraft

Following is the process a PAC-2 firing battery uses to engage a single target (an aircraft) with a single missile: # A hostile aircraft is detected by the AN/MPQ-65 Radar. The radar examines the track's size, speed, altitude, and heading, and decides whether or not it is a legitimate track or "clutter" created by RF interference. # If the track is classified by the radar as an aircraft, in the AN/MSQ-104 Engagement Control Station, an unidentified track appears on the screen of the Patriot operators. The operators examine the speed, altitude and heading of the track. Additionally, the IFF subsystem "pings" the track to determine if it has any IFF response. # Based on many factors, including the track's speed, altitude, heading, IFF response, or its presence in "safe passage corridors" or "missile engagement zones," the ECS operator, the TCO (tactical control officer), makes an ID recommendation to the ICC operator, the TD (tactical director). # The TD examines the track and decides to certify that it is hostile. Typically, the engagement authority for Patriot units rests with the Regional or Sector Air Defense Commander (RADC/SADC), who will be located either on a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

guided missile cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to s ...

or on a

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

AWACS aircraft. A Patriot operator (called the "ADAFCO" or Air Defense Artillery Fire Control Officer) is colocated with the RADC/SADC to facilitate communication to the Patriot battalions. # The TD contacts the ADAFCO and correlates the track, ensuring that it is not a friendly aircraft. # The ADAFCO obtains the engagement command from RADC/SADC, and delegates the engagement back down to the Patriot battalion. # Once the engagement command is received, the TD selects a firing battery to take the shot and orders them to engage. # The TCO instructs the TCA to engage the track. The TCA brings the system's launchers from "standby" into "operate". # The TCA presses the "engage" switch indicator. This sends a signal to the selected launcher and fires a missile selected automatically by the system. # The AN/MPQ-65 Radar, which has been continuously tracking the hostile aircraft, "acquires" the just-fired missile and begins feeding it interception data. The Radar also "illuminates" the target for the missile's

semi-active radar Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range Air-to-air missile, air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is o ...

seeker. # The monopulse receiver in the missile's nose receives the reflection of illumination energy from the target. The

uplink sends this data through an antenna in the missile's tail back to the AN/MPQ-65 set. In the ECS, computers calculate the maneuvers that the missile should perform in order to maintain a trajectory to the target and the TVM uplink sends these to the missile. # Once in the vicinity of the target, the missile detonates its proximity fused warhead.

Engaging a ballistic missile

Following is the process a PAC-3 firing battery uses to engage a single

with two PAC-3 missiles: # A missile is detected by the AN/MPQ-65 radar. The radar reviews the speed, altitude, behavior, and radar cross-section of the target. If this data lines up with the discrimination parameters set into the system, the missile is presented on the screen of the operator as a ballistic missile target. # In the AN/MSQ-104 Engagement Control Station, the TCO reviews the speed, altitude, and trajectory of the track and then authorizes engagement. Upon authorizing engagement, the TCO instructs his TCA to bring the system's launchers into "operate" mode from "standby" mode. The engagement will take place automatically at the moment the computer defines the parameters that ensure the highest probability of kill. # The system computer determines which of the battery's launchers have the highest probability of kill and selects them to fire. Two missiles are launched 4.2 seconds apart in a "ripple". # The AN/MPQ-65 radar continues tracking the target and uploads intercept information to the PAC-3 missiles which are now outbound to intercept. # Upon reaching its terminal homing phase, the Ka band active radar seeker in the nose of the PAC-3 missile acquires the inbound ballistic missile. This radar selects the radar return most likely to be the warhead of the incoming missile and directs the interceptor towards it. # The ACMs (attitude control motors) of the PAC-3 missile fire to precisely align the missile on the interception trajectory. # The interceptor flies straight through the warhead of the inbound ballistic missile, detonating it and destroying the missile. # The second missile locates any debris which may be a warhead and attacks in a similar manner.

Operational history

Persian Gulf War (1991)

Trial by fire

Prior to the First Gulf War, ballistic missile defense was an unproven concept in war. During Operation Desert Storm, in addition to its anti-aircraft mission, the Patriot was assigned to shoot down incoming Iraqi

Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the m ...

or Al Hussein short range ballistic missiles launched at Israel and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The first combat use of Patriot occurred January 18, 1991, when it engaged what was later found to be a computer glitch. There were actually no Scuds fired at Saudi Arabia on January 18. This incident was widely misreported as the first successful interception of an enemy ballistic missile in history. Throughout the war, Patriot missiles attempted engagement of over 40 hostile ballistic missiles. The success of these engagements, and in particular how many of them were real targets, is still controversial. Postwar video analysis of presumed interceptions by

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) professor

Theodore Postol Theodore A. Postol (born 1946) is a professor emeritus of Science, Technology, and International Security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to his work at MIT, he worked at Argonne National Laboratory, the Pentagon, and Stanford ...

suggests that no Scud was actually hit. This analysis is contested by Peter D. Zimmerman, who claimed that photographs of the fuselage of downed Scud missiles in Saudi Arabia demonstrated that the Scud missiles were fired into Saudi Arabia and were riddled with fragments from the lethality enhancer of Patriot Missiles.

Failure at Dhahran

On February 25, 1991, an Iraqi Al Hussein Scud missile hit the barracks in

Dhahran Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi ...

, killing 28 soldiers from the U.S. Army's

14th Quartermaster Detachment The 14th Quartermaster Detachment, is a United States Army Reserve water purification unit stationed in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. During Operation Desert Storm, the detachment lost 13 soldiers and 43 would be wounded in an Iraqi Al Hussein balli ...

. A government investigation revealed that the failed intercept at Dhahran had been caused by a software error in the system's handling of timestamps. The Patriot missile battery at Dhahran had been in operation for 100 hours, by which time the system's internal clock had drifted by one-third of a second. Due to the missile's speed this was equivalent to a miss distance of 600 meters. The radar system had successfully detected the Scud and predicted where to look for it next. However, the timestamps of the two radar pulses being compared were converted to

floating point In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic on subsets of real numbers formed by a ''significand'' (a signed sequence of a fixed number of digits in some base) multiplied by an integer power of that base. Numbers of this form ...

differently: one correctly, the other introducing an error proportionate to the operation time so far (100 hours) caused by the truncation in a 24-bit fixed-point register. As a result, the difference between the pulses was wrong, so the system looked in the wrong part of the sky and found no target. With no target, the initial detection was assumed to be a spurious track and the missile was removed from the system. No interception was attempted, and the Scud impacted on a makeshift barracks in an Al Khobar warehouse, killing 28 soldiers, the first Americans to be killed from the Scuds that Iraq had launched against

and Israel. Two weeks earlier, on February 11, 1991, the Israelis had identified the problem and informed the U.S. Army and the PATRIOT Project Office, the software manufacturer. As a stopgap measure, the Israelis had recommended rebooting the system's computers regularly. The manufacturer supplied updated software to the Army on February 26. There had previously been failures in the MIM-104 system at the Joint Defense Facility Nurrungar in Australia, which was charged with processing signals from satellite-based early launch detection systems.

Success rate vs. accuracy

On February 15, 1991, President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

traveled to Raytheon's Patriot manufacturing plant in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...

, during the Gulf War. He declared, the "Patriot is 41 for 42: 42 Scuds engaged, 41 intercepted!" The President's claimed success rate was over 97% at that point in the war. On April 7, 1992,

of MIT, and Reuven Pedatzur of

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

testified before a House Committee stating that, according to their independent analysis of video tapes, the Patriot system had a success rate of below 10%, and perhaps even a zero success rate. On April 7, 1992, Charles A. Zraket of

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

and Peter Zimmerman of the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...

, a

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

funded by the United States government and Raytheon, testified about the calculation of success rates and accuracy in Israel and Saudi Arabia and discounted many of the statements and methodologies in Postol's report. According to Zimmerman, it is important to note the difference in terms when analyzing the performance of the system during the war: * Success rate – the percentage of Scuds destroyed or deflected to unpopulated areas * Accuracy – the percentage of hits out of all the Patriots fired In accordance with the standard firing doctrine, on average four Patriots were launched at each incoming Scud in Saudi Arabia an average of three Patriots were fired. The large number of missiles fired suggests low confidence in individual missiles and that a higher rate of successful interceptions was achieved through brute force. For example, if a Patriot has a 50% individual success rate, two missiles will intercept 75% of the time, and three will intercept 87.5% of the time. Only one has to hit for a successful interception, but this does not mean that the other missiles would not also have hit. The Iraqi redesign of the Scuds also played a role. Iraq had redesigned its Scuds by removing weight from the warhead to increase speed and range, but the changes weakened the missile and made it unstable during flight, creating a tendency for the Scud to break up during its descent from

near space Near space is the upper region of the Earth's atmosphere between airspace and outer space. It is sometimes referred to as the " edge of space". There is no legal definition for this extent, but typically this is the altitude range from . Rang ...

. This presented a larger number of targets as it was unclear which piece contained the warhead. According to the Zraket testimony, there was a lack of high quality photographic equipment necessary to record the interceptions of targets. Therefore, Patriot crews recorded each launch on

standard-definition Standard-definition television (SDTV; also standard definition or SD) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high-definition television, high or enhanced definition. ''Standard'' refers to offering a ...

videotape, which was insufficient for detailed analysis. Damage assessment teams videotaped the Scud debris that was found on the ground. Crater analysis was then used to determine if the warhead was destroyed before the debris crashed or not. Part of the reason for the 30% improvement in success rate in Saudi Arabia compared to Israel is that the Patriot merely had to push the incoming Scud missiles away from military targets in the desert or disable the Scud's warhead in order to avoid casualties, while in Israel the Scuds were aimed directly at cities and civilian populations. The Saudi Government also censored any reporting of Scud damage by the Saudi press. The Israeli Government did not institute the same type of censorship. Patriot's success rate in Israel was examined by the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF) who did not have a political reason to play up Patriot's success rate. The IDF counted any Scud that exploded on the ground, regardless of whether or not it was diverted, as a failure for the Patriot. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army, which had many reasons to support a high success rate for Patriot, examined the performance of Patriot in Saudi Arabia. Both testimonies state that part of the problems stem from its original design as an anti-aircraft system. Patriot was designed with

proximity fuse A Proximity Fuse (also VT fuse or "variable time fuze") is a fuse that detonates an explosive device automatically when it approaches within a certain distance of its target. Proximity fuses are designed for elusive military targets such as air ...

d warheads, which are designed to explode immediately prior to hitting a target spraying shrapnel out in a fan in front of the missile, either destroying or disabling the target. These missiles were fired at the target's center of mass. With aircraft this was fine, but considering the much higher speeds of tactical ballistic missiles, as well as the location of the warhead, usually in the nose, Patriot most often hit closer to the tail of the Scud due to the delay present in the

d warhead, thus not destroying the missile's warhead and allowing it to fall to earth. In response to the testimonies and other evidence, the staff of the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Legislation and National Security reported, "The Patriot missile system was not the spectacular success in the Persian Gulf War that the American public was led to believe. There is little evidence to prove that the Patriot hit more than a few

missiles launched by Iraq during the Gulf War, and there are some doubts about even these engagements. The public and the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

were misled by definitive statements of success issued by administration and Raytheon representatives during and after the war." A Canadian ''

Fifth Estate The Fifth Estate is a socio-cultural reference to groupings of outlier viewpoints in contemporary society, and is most associated with bloggers, journalists publishing in non-mainstream media outlets, and online social networks. The "Fifth" Esta ...

'' documentary, ''The Best Defence'', in February 2003 quoted the former Israeli Defense Minister as saying the Israeli government was so dissatisfied with the performance of the missile defense, that they were preparing their own military retaliation on Iraq regardless of U.S. objections. That response was canceled only with the

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

with Iraq.

US-led invasion of Iraq (2003)

Patriot was deployed to Iraq a second time in 2003, this time to provide air and missile defense for the forces conducting

(OIF). Patriot PAC-3, GEM, and GEM+ missiles both had a very high success rate, intercepting Al-Samoud 2 and Ababil-100 tactical ballistic missiles. No longer-range ballistic missiles were fired during that conflict. The systems were stationed in Kuwait and Iraq, and successfully destroyed a number of hostile surface-to-surface missiles using the new PAC-3 and guidance enhanced missiles. Patriot missile batteries were involved in three friendly fire incidents. On March 23, 2003, a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

was shot down, killing both crew members, Flight Lieutenant Kevin Barry Main (pilot) and Flight Lieutenant David Rhys Williams (navigator/WSO). On March 24, 2003, a USAF

F-16CJ Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolv ...

fired a HARM anti-radiation missile at a Patriot missile battery after the Patriot's radar had locked onto and prepared to fire at the aircraft, causing the pilot to mistake it for an Iraqi surface-to-air missile system because the aircraft was in air combat operations and was on its way to a mission near Baghdad. The HARM destroyed the Patriot's radar system with no casualties. Afterwards the Patriot Radar was examined and continued to operate, but was replaced due to a chance that a fragment might have penetrated it and gone undetected. On April 2, 2003, two PAC-3 missiles shot down a USN

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

, killing U.S. Navy Lieutenant Nathan D. White of VFA-195,

Carrier Air Wing Five Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier . It was initially formed in 1943. It has participated in the Second World ...

Post-2003 service in Iraq

A US Army Patriot battery in Erbil, Iraq shot down at least one Iranian ballistic missile during the 2024 Iranian strikes in Israel.

Service with Israel

Yahalom-MIM-104D-Patriot--Independence-Day-2017-Tel-Nof-IZE-026

The Israeli Air Defense Command operated MIM-104D Patriot (PAC-2/GEM+) batteries with Israeli upgrades. The

' designation for the Patriot weapon system was "Yahalom" (, ''diamond''). On 30 April 2024, the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

published an article stating that their Patriot batteries would be decommissioned in two months, being replaced by "more advanced air systems". According to ''The War Zone'', the Patriot was replaced by the

and

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

systems. Following the announcement, Ukraine initiated talks on obtaining retired Israeli Patriot systems in April 2024. On 28 January 2025, a US defense official confirmed to the ''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

'' that 90 ex-Israeli interceptors were transferred to Ukraine via the United States. Reportedly Kyiv will also receive components for the system, including radars, after being refurbished in the US.

Operation Protective Edge (2014)

During

, Patriot batteries of the Israeli Air Defense Command intercepted and destroyed two

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

s launched by

. The interception of a Hamas drone in July 2014, was the first time in the history of the Patriot system's use that it successfully intercepted an enemy aircraft.

Syrian civil war (2014–)

In Israeli service in the Syrian civil war, Patriot has primarily been active in drone and air defense, rather than a missile defense capacity. In August 2014, a Syrian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down by an Israeli Air Defense Command MIM-104D Patriot missile near

Quneitra Quneitra (also Al Qunaytirah, Qunaitira, or Kuneitra; , ''al-Qunayṭrah'' or ''al-Qunayṭirah'' ) is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan ...

, after it had penetrated the airspace over the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. In September 2014, a

was shot down in similar circumstances. Since 2014, Israeli Patriots have missed several Syrian drones, including two misses in July 2016 and another in June 2018; as well as several successful shootdowns against Syrian drones in April 2017 July 11 and July 13, 2018, as well as against a Hezbollah intelligence drone attempting to infiltrate Israel in September 2017 through the

Golan Golan (; ) is the name of a biblical town later known from the works of Josephus (first century CE) and Eusebius (''Onomasticon'', early 4th century CE). Archaeologists localize the biblical city of Golan at Sahm el-Jaulān, a Syrian village eas ...

. On July 24, 2018, an Israeli Patriot missile shot down a Syrian

Sukhoi Su-22 The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32; NATO reporting name: Fitter) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to enter Soviet se ...

fighter which had crossed into Israeli airspace.

Service with Saudi Arabia

Patriot has continued to see usage in Saudi Arabia against

missile attacks. In June 2015, a Patriot battery was used to shoot down a Scud missile, fired at Saudi Arabia by

rebels in response to the

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sa ...

. Another Scud was fired at an electricity station in Jizan Province and intercepted by a Saudi Patriot in August 2015. Saudi Arabia claims that another long-range ballistic missile was fired toward

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

and intercepted by a Saudi Patriot in October 2016. Houthi sources said that the missile's intended target was the air force base in

King Abdulaziz International Airport King Abdulaziz International Airport (IATA airport code, IATA: JED, ICAO airport code, ICAO: OEJN, colloquially referred to as Jeddah Airport, Jeddah International Airport, or KAIA), is a major international airport serving the cities of Jedda ...

in Jeddah, 65 km (40miles) north-west of Mecca. In March 2018, another missile, apparently fired from Yemen, was intercepted by a Patriot missile over Riyadh. Videos showed one interceptor exploded just after launch and another did a "U turn" midair toward Riyadh. During the Abqaiq–Khurais attack in September 2019, the six battalions of Patriot missile defense systems owned by Saudi Arabia failed to protect its oil facilities from attacks by multiple drones and suspected cruise missiles. The United States removed two of its four Patriot antimissile batteries securing oil fields in Saudi Arabia in May 2020, following an easing of tensions with Iran. They were to be replaced by Saudi's own Patriot batteries. In February 2021, a Patriot battery intercepted a ballistic missile over Riyadh that was fired by Houthis as a

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

race was held on the outskirts of the city in

Diriyah Diriyah (; formerly romanization of Arabic, romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya) is a towns in Saudi Arabia, town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Diriyah was the original home of t ...

, attended by Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the ''de facto'' ruler of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Sa ...

Service with the United Arab Emirates

According to Brigadier General Murad Turaiq, the commander of some of the Yemeni forces allied to the Saudi-led coalition currently fighting in Yemen, Patriot air defense systems deployed to Yemen by the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

(UAE) have successfully intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by Houthi forces. General Turaiq told the Abu Dhabi-based ''The National'' newspaper on November 14, 2015, that the first missile was shot down late the previous day in the Al-Gofainah area and a second was intercepted before it hit the building hosting the control centre for forces operating in

Marib Marib (; Ancient South Arabian script, Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 ''Mryb/Mrb'') is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of ''Saba’, Sabaʾ'' (), which some scholars beli ...

and Al-Baydah provinces.

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

Defence and Space satellite imagery obtained by

IHS Jane's Janes is a global open-source intelligence company specialising in military, national security, aerospace and transport topics, whose name derives from British author Fred T. Jane. History Jane's Information Group was founded in 1898 by Fred ...

showed two Patriot fire units, each with two launchers, deployed at the Safir airstrip in Marib province on October 1.

Talisman Sabre Exercise

In July 2021, the US Army used a battery of Patriot missiles in the Exercise Talisman Saber in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The US Army test fired Patriot PAC-2 interceptor missiles and successfully intercepted target drones.

Service with Eastern Europe

Patriot sales and contributions to Poland and Ukraine

Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea led to a "sales burst" for the Patriot system, with Romania, Poland, and Sweden signing onto the system between the start of the invasion and the wider invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In response to

Russia's invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, on 9 March 2022, the

U.S. European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, the ...

announced that it would send two Patriot air defense systems to Poland to "proactively counter any potential threat to U.S. and Allied forces and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

territory". Poland asked Germany to transfer the Patriots to Ukraine. Germany declined. On 19 December, Ukraine President Zelenskyy talked about negotiating personally with US President

Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

over a potential transfer of Patriot missile systems. He said they offer "a (better) distance, radius of reflection, protection". Ukrainian Foreign Minister

Dmytro Kuleba Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba ( ; born 19 April 1981) is a Ukrainian politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was concurrently a member of the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine. The youngest foreign affai ...

said that this was the most difficult diplomatic issue they had faced. One day later, the Biden administration announced it would be delivering another $1.85 billion in aid to Ukraine that would include a Patriot battery During a meeting with Zelenskyy in front of the press at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

on December 21, Biden confirmed that the United States would send a Patriot battery to Ukraine, noting that it would take "months" to train the "dozens" of soldiers needed to operate the system, probably in Germany. Providing a Patriot missile system is seen as a symbol of Western engagement in the conflict, although its range is only local. Other nations subsequently announced plans to send their own Patriot batteries. On 5 January 2023, Germany announced that it would supply one Patriot battery to Ukraine as a part of their own military aid package. On 17 January 2023, the Netherlands announced it too will send one launcher, and added a second launcher on 20 January. The Dutch government announced it will send launchers (Dutch: lanceerinrichtingen) and missiles, not complete systems (a battery) which includes radars, etc. On 19 April, a German government website announced that the country had delivered a Patriot system to Ukraine. A second Patriot battery was delivered on April 27 from the United States. On August 9, 2023, it was announced that Germany would provide an additional complete Patriot battery to Ukraine. The system was delivered on December 13 after the Ukrainian crew completed training in Germany. So, during 2023, three Patriot batteries were delivered to Ukraine.

Patriot operations in the Russo-Ukrainian War

Patriot has had a successful track record in Ukraine during the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, successfully intercepting a wide range of Russian weaponry and aircraft. It has shot down Russian aircraft like Su-34 fighters flying nearly 100 miles away, and intercepted missiles as far as 130 miles away, according to defense NGO reports. During October 2023, under a program called "

FrankenSAM The RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a U.S. ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles. The system was developed in the early 1960s from the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile ...

" Western and Soviet air defence technologies are being combined in Ukraine. One of three programs involves a Ukrainian radar guiding a Patriot missile. It has been tested and is expected to be operational by winter.

= Aircraft interceptions - May 2023

= On May 13, 2023, a Patriot battery was allegedly used to destroy at least four (possibly five) aircraft belonging to a Russian strike package over Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Visually confirmed losses included a

Su-34 The Sukhoi Su-34 (; NATO reporting name: Fullback) is a Soviet-origin Russian twin-engine, twin-seat, all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber/ strike aircraft. It first flew in 1990, intended for the Soviet Air Forces, and it entere ...

Su-35 The Sukhoi Su-35 (-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E/M, occasionally nicknamed "Super Flanker") is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twin-engine, supermaneuverable, 4.5 ge ...

, and two

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the ...

helicopters. On 19 May, U.S. defense officials and congressional staffers told

that a Patriot system had been used by the Ukrainian army to shoot down at least one Russian jet a few weeks before. The spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force later confirmed the shoot down of a Russian Su-34, Su-35, two Mi-8MTPR EW helicopters, and an Mi-8 transport helicopter by the Patriot system.

= Missile defense

= During a night time attack on the Kyiv region on May 4, 2023, Ukraine air defense claimed a hypersonic

Kh-47M2 Kinzhal The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ( rus, Х-47М2 Кинжал, p=kʲɪn'ʐaɫ, 'Dagger'; NATO reporting name: AS-24 Killjoy) is a Russian air-launched ballistic missile. It has an estimated range of and a reported top speed of Mach 10. It can carry either ...

ballistic missile was shot down by a Patriot missile defence system. Yurii Ihnat, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, initially denied the claim of interception, but on May 6 it was finally confirmed by Commander of the UAF Mykola Oleschuk. Prior to this interception, intercepting a Kinzhal missile was only a "theoretical" capability. Unnamed US officials claimed the missile was aimed at the Patriot system which intercepted it, and that the Ukrainians fired multiple Patriot missiles at different angles to intercept the Kinzhal missile. A Pentagon spokesman later confirmed that Ukraine downed the Kinzhal missile. On May 16, 2023, the Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down eighteen missiles, including six Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles, and uncertain number of attack drones. The Russian Defense Ministry stated in response that six Kinzhal missiles hadn't even been fired, and furthermore claimed that a Patriot battery in Kyiv was destroyed by a Kinzhal missile, citing social media footage. U.S. officials confirmed that the Patriot system was damaged, but stated that the damage was "minimal" or "insignificant", the radar was intact and that the system could likely be repaired locally without needing to be moved out of Ukraine. The battery was returned to operational status after minor repairs. It has not yet been established whether the Patriot had been damaged by the fragments of the downed Russian missile or by a direct hit. The following day, U.S. officials told the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

that "a Patriot system had been damaged in the attack but added that the Patriot remained operational against all threats," while Deputy Pentagon Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh announced that the Patriot system had been fixed, with assistance from the US. In contradiction to the U.S. announcement, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the system's multifunctional radar station and five launchers were destroyed. After two missile attacks on May 29, 2023, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced that all missiles were intercepted and according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman, Yuriy Ihnat, these were assumed to likely be Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Dashcam video captured the debris from an expended PAC-3 CRI missile falling in between passing vehicles. By 2025 however. doubts about the effectiveness of the Patriot systems in Ukraine had emerged, following the destruction of multiple Patriot system components by upgraded Russian

Iskander-M The 9K720 Iskander (; NATO reporting name SS-26 Stone) is a Russian mobile short-range ballistic missile system. It has a range of . It was intended to replace the OTR-21 Tochka in the Russian military by 2020. The Iskander has several differ ...

missiles. On 26 May 2025, the Ukrainian Air Force official spokesman stated "The Iskander missiles perform evasive manoeuvres in the final phase, thwarting the Patriot’s trajectory calculations… In addition, the Iskander can drop decoys capable of fooling Patriot missiles." Video evidence had suggested that Iskander missiles had destroying many Patriot system components: first on February 23, 2024, a second in the Sergeevka area on March 10, 2024, in July 2024 two batteries near

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, on August 11, 2024, three more missile batteries and an AN/MPQ-65 radar, and more recently an AN/MPQ-65 radar, control cabin and launch vehicles in the

Dnepropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

region.

Losses

On March 9, 2024, video footage emerged showing the destruction of an Armed Forces of Ukraine

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

that allegedly contained at least two M901 Patriot missile launchers near the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast. The convoy was reportedly struck by a Russian

ballistic missile. The Armed Forces of Ukraine has not commented on the video. On 5 April 2024, a damaged Ukrainian Patriot launcher was delivered to the United States. It is not yet known exactly where the launcher was damaged.

Demands on Patriot systems

Including the United States, 18 countries operate Patriot missile systems. Outside the US, only Japan's

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...

appears to build Patriot missiles, under licence from various US companies. This has led to a demand on the US Army. Patriot batteries are the most deployed units in the US Army by early 2021. Some units have had a 6-month deployment extended up to 15 months. The missile is currently being used in active service in Saudi Arabia. In active use by the IDF in the "southern Negev desert". The Patriot missile batteries are also seeing active service in Ukraine, where there are three batteries in service. To refill US stockpiles, Japan has modified its export rules to allow export of missiles to the United States. Previously only specific components could be exported now entire missiles can be exported. They cannot be sent directly to Ukraine, however they can backfill US stockpiles. Recent withdrawal of the missiles from the Middle East were done to help deal with a potential crisis in the Pacific. Likewise Germany has withdrawn its three Patriot units from Poland. NATO has announced a plan to purchase some 1000 Patriot missiles. A $5.5 billion contract has been awarded to

and

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

was building 350 PAC-3 MSE missiles annually and was working to ramp up its production to 500 missiles a year prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In December 2023, Lockheed hit their production goal of 500 missiles per year, and is "fully funded by the U.S. Army to build 550 missiles annually" at its new 85,000 square-foot

Camden, Arkansas Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County, Arkansas, Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state portals, U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlo ...

facility. Lockheed has announced plans to ramp up production of PAC-3 MSE interceptors to 650 annually by 2027, though it notes this will be done through internal investment, having not received Army funding for the production increase. Lockheed also intends to increase export shipments for the missile, with six new international customers signing letters of approval in 2023.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Aerojet Rocketdyne is a subsidiary of American Arms industry, defense company L3Harris that manufactures rocket, Hypersonic flight, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Aerojet traces ...

, which produces the PAC-3 MSE motor, opened a 51,000 square foot production facility next to Lockheed's Camden site in 2022, and has increased rocket motor production by 60% from 70,000 in 2021 to 115,000 in 2023 across all types including the PAC-3 MSE rocket motor. On 20 June 2024, the US government is set to announce the suspension of all exports of Patriot missiles and systems “until Ukraine has enough to defend itself from Russia’s air attacks”. This decision affects five countries who have agreed to the suspension. The Romanian government has announced that it will send a “full” Patriot battery to Ukraine, provided that the US government “help(s) cover the gap”. In May 2025, US Secretary of State

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...

told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee "frankly, we don’t have" spare Patriot systems for Ukraine, and the US was encouraging NATO allies to donate Patriot missiles and systems from their stock.

Operators

Current operators:

Current

; *

Egyptian Air Defense Forces The Egyptian Air Defence Forces (EADF) () is the Anti-aircraft warfare branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It is responsible for protecting the Egyptian airspace against any hostile air attacks. The EADF was established in accor ...

: In 1999, Egypt acquired 32 Patriot-3 (MIM-104-F/PAC-3) missile systems from the United States for $1.3 billion. ; *

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

(9 systems with 72 launchers + 8 systems with 64 launchers on order) ** Flugabwehrraketengeschwader 1 *** Air Defence Missile Group 21 (Flugabwehrraketengruppe 21) *** Air Defence Missile Group 24 (Flugabwehrraketengruppe 24) *** Air Defence Missile Group 26 (Flugabwehrraketengruppe 26) *** Air Defence Missile Group 61 (Flugabwehrraketengruppe 61) ; *

Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...

** 350 Guided Missiles Wing *** 21st Guided Missile Squadron *** 22nd Guided Missile Squadron *** 23rd Guided Missile Squadron *** 24th Guided Missile Squadron *** 25th Guided Missile Squadron *** 26th Guided Missile Squadron ; Japan Air Self-Defense Force MIM-104 Patriot launcher

Japan Air Self-Defense Force MIM-104 Patriot launcher

Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the Aerial warfare, air and space warfare, space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and ...

** Air Defense Missile Training Unit (ADMTU) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ** 1st Air Defense Missile Group (1st ADMG) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ** 2nd Air Defense Missile Group (2nd ADMG) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ** 3rd Air Defense Missile Group (3rd ADMG) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ** 4th Air Defense Missile Group (4th ADMG) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ** 5th Air Defense Missile Group (5th ADMG) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ** 6th Air Defense Missile Group (6th ADMG) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ; *

Royal Jordanian Air Force The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; Arabic: سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, ''Silāḥ al-Jaww al-Malakī al-ʾUrdunī'') is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces. Founded in 1955, the RJAF serves as the primary ...

The RJAF operates three or four Patriot missile batteries, acquired from Germany. Batteries are in operational deployment. ; *

Kuwait Air Force The Kuwait Air Force () is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Kuwait. The Air Force headquarters is located at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, with the remaining forces stationed at Air Defense Brigades, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmad al-Jaber ...

In August 2010, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced that Kuwait had formally requested to buy 209 MIM-104E PAC-2 missiles. In August 2012, Kuwait purchased 60 MIM-104F PAC-3 missiles, along with four radars and 20 launchers. ; *

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the Ground warfare, land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing a ...

Joint Ground-based Air Defence Command The Joint Ground-based Air Defence Command (Dutch (language), Dutch: ''Defensie Grondgebonden Luchtverdedigingscommando, DGLC'') is a joint command of the Royal Netherlands Army, formed in 2012 after amalgamation of the ''Commando Luchtdoelartiller ...

802 Squadron (PAC-2 & PAC-3 MSE) ; *

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force () is the aerial warfare Military branch, branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 26,000 military personnel an ...

(2 systems + 6 systems on order) ** 3rd "Warsaw" Air Defence Missile Brigade - Sochaczew-Bielice In March 2018 the Ministry of National Defence signed a deal worth $4.75 billion for two Patriot Configuration 3+ batteries, to be delivered in 2022. The purchase included Northrop Grumman's

Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System The United States Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense

Battle Command System (IBCS) is a plug and fight, plug-and-fight network intended to let a radar or any other defensive sensor feed its data to any available weapon—colloquially, ...

(IBCS) and four fire units equipped with four AN/MPQ-65 radars, 16 launchers, four Engagement Control Stations, six Engagement Operation Centers, 12 IFCN Relays and 208 PAC-3 MSE missiles. In December 2022 the first battery was delivered to Poland. In June 2023, the State Department approved a potential sale of additional IBCS-capable equipment valued at $15 billion, which included 12 LTAMDS (GhostEye) radars, 48 M903 launchers, and 644 PAC-3 MSE missiles. Finally, contracts for the purchase of six complete Patriot batteries with a training, service and logistics package were signed and approved by the Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak on September 5, 2023, at the International Defense Industry Exhibition in Kielce, Poland. As of April 2025 Poland is manufacturing transport and launch containers for PAC-3 MSE. Lockheed Martin took delivery of the container from the Polish factory at Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 1 on 17 April 2025. ; *

Qatar Emiri Air Force The Qatar Emiri Air Force () (QEAF) is the air arm of the armed forces of the state of Qatar. It was established in 1974 as a small aerial support wing, although in modern times it has evolved into a potent, well equipped force. The QEAF is head ...

In November 2012, it was announced the export from the United States of 11 Patriot batteries (PAC-3 configuration), 246 MIM-104E GEM-T and 786 PAC-3 missiles and related equipment. Declared operational in November 2018. ; Patriot missile battery Romania 2

Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) () is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five air bases, a logistics base, an air defense brigade, an air defense regiment and an ISR (Intel ...

** 74th Patriot Regiment (PAC-2 GEM-T & PAC-3 MSE) The

received its first system of Patriot surface-to-air missiles in September 2020, with the last three received by 2023. The government of Romania signed in the agreement to purchase seven Patriot Configuration 3 units, complete with radars, a control station, antennas, launching stations, and power plants in November 2017. Included are 168 Patriot Advanced Capability – 3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) and 56 Patriot MIM-104E PAC-2 Guidance Enhanced Missile TBM (GEM-T) missiles. The agreement was valued at around $4 billion. Another three systems are to enter service with the

Land Forces Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land surface ...

. ; * Royal Saudi Air Defense * Part of "Peace Shield" Air Defense Profile ; *

Republic of Korea Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the Air force, aerial and Space force, space warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of National Defense (South K ...

Air Defense & Guided Missile Command ** 1st Air Defense Artillery Brigade (1st ADAB) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ** 2nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade (2nd ADAB) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ** 3rd Air Defense Artillery Brigade (3rd ADAB) (PAC-2 & PAC-3) ; *

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

** Regimiento de Artillería antiaérea 73 ; *

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

** Air Defence Regiment (Robot 103A (PAC-2 GEM-T) & Robot 103B (PAC-3 MSE) Sweden decided in competition with Aster 30 SAMP/T to request an offer for the Patriot system in November 2017 and in August 2018 an agreement was signed for four units and 12 launchers to form two battalions. No follow-up orders are to be made. The initial cost was to be around 10 billion SEK but the price is deemed much higher the granted funds for the sale is $3.2 billion, known as ''Luftvärnssystem 103'' (''Anti-air system 103'') in Swedish service, would be delivered in 2021 and 2022. The first Swedish troops were training on the system at

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...

in December 2018. The

Swedish Defence Materiel Administration The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (, FMV) is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It is located in Stockholm. D ...

accepted the first deliveries in April 2021 and System Integration and Check Out was initiated by

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

. The system was officially activated with the Swedish Armed forces in November 2021. The final unit was delivered in December 2022. ; *

Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force ( Chinese, 中華民國空軍), or the ROCAF; known colloquially as the Taiwanese Air Force ( Chinese, 臺灣空軍) by Western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Air Force ...

GHQ Missile Command ; * United Arab Emirates Army In 2014, the United Arab Emirates closed a deal worth nearly $4 billion with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to buy and operate the latest development of the PAC-3 system, as well as 288 of Lockheed's PAC-3 missiles, and 216 GEM-T missiles. The deal was part of the development of a national defense system to protect the Emirates from air threats. In 2019, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces purchased 452 Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) Missiles Segment Enhanced (MSE) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $2.728 billion. ; U-s-service-members-stand-by-a-patriot-missile-battery-in-gaziantep-turkey

U-s-service-members-stand-by-a-patriot-missile-battery-in-gaziantep-turkey

The US Army operates a total of 1,106 Patriot launchers. In 2023, 480 were in service. *

11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade The 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade is an air defense artillery brigade of the United States Army stationed at Fort Bliss. Structure The brigades includes a Headquarters and Headquarters battery, three Patriot Units, one IBCS Unit, and three ...

(11 ADA BDE) *** 1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (1-43 ADA) *** 2nd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (2-43 ADA) *** 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (3-43 ADA) *** 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (5-52 ADA) ** 30th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (30 ADA BDE) *** 3rd Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (3-6 ADA) ** 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade (31 ADA BDE) *** 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (3-2 ADA) *** 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (4-3 ADA) **

69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade The 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade is an Air Defense Artillery Branch, air defense artillery brigade of the United States Army. Subordinate units include:69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. Battalions. U.S Army Fort Hood. URL still valid 27 ...

(69 ADA BDE) *** 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (4-5 ADA) *** 1st Battalion,

44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment The 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an Air Defense Artillery regiment of the United States Army, first constituted in 1918 in the Regular Army during World War I. During World War II the unit served as the 54th Coast Artillery Regiment L ...

(1-44 ADA) *** 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (1-62 ADA) **

108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade The 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade is an air defense artillery brigade of the United States Army. The mission of the brigade is to train and maintain a strategic crisis response air defense artillery brigade capable of deploying worldwide, o ...

(108 ADA BDE) *** 1st Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (1-7 ADA) *** 3rd Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (3-4 ADA) * Units permanently stationed overseas **

35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade The 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (ADAB) is an Air Defense Artillery unit of the United States Army subordinate to the Eighth United States Army, located at Osan Air Base in the Republic of Korea. 35th ADAB has integrated the Terminal High A ...

(35 ADA BDE),

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

*** 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment (2-1 ADA) *** 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (6-52 ADA) ** 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (38 ADA BDE),

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

*** 1st Battalion,

1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment The 1st Air Defense Artillery is an air defense artillery regiment in the United States Army first formed as a field artillery unit in 1821. Lineage Constituted 1 June 1821 in the Regular Army as the 1st Regiment of Artillery, and organized fro ...

(1-1 ADA) **

52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade 5 (five) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 Digit (anatomy), digits ...

(52 ADA BDE),

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

***

5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment The 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (5-7 ADA) is a Patriot air defense battalion of the United States Army. It is currently a subordinate unit of the 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command (AAMDC) and comprises six subordinat ...

(5-7 ADA) ; Ukraine currently has eight batteries along with an additional four launchers. Three batteries each have been donated by Germany and the United States with an additional four launchers donated by Germany and one battery each by Romania and the Netherlands. In 2025 it was announced that Ukraine will receive two additional batteries, one each from Germany and Israel, after refurbishment by the United States. *

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...

** 96th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade ** 138th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade

Former

; *

** Israeli Air Defense Command Operated 8 PAC-2/GEM+ "Yahalom" batteries. Replaced by the

and

systems in 2024. In January 2025, a US defense official confirmed that about 90 interceptors kept in storage were transferred to Ukraine. It was also reported that components from these systems, including radars, will be refurbished in the United States before being transferred to Ukraine.

Future

; *

Royal Moroccan Army The Royal Moroccan Army ( ''Al-Quwwat al-Bariyah al-Malakiyah al-Maghribiyah'', ''tasrdast tagldant'') is the branch of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Royal Moroccan Army is about 215,000 t ...

** PAC-3 ordered and to be operated by Royal Moroccan Army. ; *

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peaceti ...

- Air2030 BODLUV programme ** 5 batteries selected in 2022, contracted in 2023 for USD $1,225,368,567 *** 70 Raytheon MIM-104E GEM-T (PAC-2) missiles *** 3 TOC-C (Tactical Operation Center Coordination) *** 5 AN/MSQ-132 TOC-E (Tactical Operation Center Execution) *** 5 AN/MPQ-65A radars *** 5 EPP RADAR-V electrical generators for radar *** 17 M903 launching stations *** OE-349 Antenna Mast Group ( UHF communications array) **72 Lockheed Martin PAC-3 MSE ordered in 2023 for CHF 300 million

References

External links

Aerojet Rocketdyne PAC-3 MSE

CSIS Missile Threat – Patriot

Official Raytheon (missile contractor) PATRIOT web site

MIM-104 Patriot – Armed Forces International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mim-104 Patriot Cold War surface-to-air missiles of the United States MIM-104 Missile defense Anti-ballistic missiles of the United States Raytheon Company products Military equipment introduced in the 1980s Military electronics of the United States