Patriot Missile Threat
Last Updated
August 23, 2023
The MIM-104 Patriot is the U.S. Army’s primary air and missile defense system. While initially designed as an antiaircraft system, newer variants of Patriot are capable of engaging ballistic and cruise missiles, loitering munitions, and aircraft. A typical Patriot battery includes a radar set, engagement control station, power generation and other support vehicles, and several launch stations. 18 countries currently operate Patriot.
Development
The U.S. Army Missile Command first developed the Patriot concept in 1961 as the Army Air Defense System for the 1970s (AADS-70s). In its initial form, AADS-70s was to be a mobile air defense system to replace static HAWK and Nike Hercules emplacements. In October 1964, the Army renamed the program to Surface-to-Air Missile, Development (SAM-D) and in 1967, selected a prime contractor for the effort. SAM-D’s first flight test took place in November 1969.1
On January 10, 1974, the Department of Defense reoriented the SAM-D program to support a Track-Via-Missile (TVM) guidance system and a simplified concept of operations. The revised SAM-D entered engineering development in February 1976 and on May 21, 1976, was renamed PATRIOT (Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept On Target). Patriot entered full-rate production in in September 1980. The Army activated its first Patriot missile battalion in May 1982.2
Through the 1980s and 1990s, the Army fielded a number of significant upgrades to the Patriot system. As Patriot entered high-rate production through 1985, the Department of Defense began efforts to add a ballistic missile defense capability to the system. In 1986, the Army upgraded Patriot to the Patriot Advanced Capability-1 (PAC-1) standard, which featured software changes that would allow it to engage tactical ballistic missiles. After a successful interception of a Lance missile in September 1986, PAC-1 was deployed in July 1988.3
https://missilethreat.csis.org/system/patriot/
