Operation Desert Storm: Data Does Not Exist to Conclusively Say How Well Patriot Performed

Abstract

The Patriot is a surface-to-air guided missile system designed to protect U.S. forces from air strikes. Since the mid-1960s, it has evolved to defend against aircraft, cruise missiles, and, more recently, short-range ballistic missiles. The Patriot system consists of a ground radar, an engagement control station, an antenna, an electric power plant, and typically eight launchers. Each launcher contains four missiles in their individual storage-transportation launch containers. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, the Army deployed the Patriot to Southwest Asia to defend against the Iraqi-modified Scud missile-referred to as the Al-Hussein. The extended range of the Al-Hussein enabled it to travel faster than the Soviet missiles against which the Patriot had been designed to defend. The Al-Hussein travels at speeds 1 of 2,000 to 2,200 meters per second, compared with 1,600 to 1,800 meters per second for the Soviet missile.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1992
Accession Number
AD1150557

Entities

People

  • Henry L. Jr Hinton

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accounting
  • Air Strikes
  • Aircrafts
  • Arabia
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Cameras
  • Cruise Missiles
  • Damage Assessment
  • Electric Power
  • Electric Power Plants
  • Engineers
  • Governments
  • Guided Missiles
  • Launchers
  • Military Personnel
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Photographic Equipment
  • Photographs
  • Radar Tracking
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Security
  • Short Range Ballistic Missiles
  • Southwest Asia
  • Telemetry Equipment
  • United States

Readers

  • Graph Algorithms and Convex Optimization.
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Missile Defense Systems.