Patriot Missile

Propelled weapon that achieved fame and notoriety during the first Gulf War in 1991, when it had limited success against Iraqi Scud missiles. The purpose of the Patriot missile is to detect, track, and destroy incoming enemy missiles, but in one notorious incident, a software failure resulted in the deaths of 28 American soldiers in Saudi Arabia. The outcome of a congressional inquiry into the incident suggested that the Patriot missiles were not as successful as they had been widely reported to be. The effectiveness of the Patriot is central to wider debates concerning the development of the so-called Star Wars defense system, which would be capable of destroying nuclear weapons in space before they can reach the United States.

Research and Development

The Patriot missile is a guided missile that was conceived in the 1960s and put into development for anti-aircraft use in the 1970s. The Patriot system consists of [Page 569]a combined transporter-launcher carrying 32 missiles, hauled by a trailer. A separate trailer transports radar and other electronic equipment that controls the missiles. The launchers can be up to a kilometer away from the radar and control hub, to which they are linked by microwave signals.

The trailer-mounted radar scans the horizon with a thin beam, flicking between thousands of locations each second. Once something is detected, a message is sent to the control center. It is possible for Patriot to track up to 100 targets. It is also possible for the system to be automated, although an operator is capable of overriding it. The control computer tells the launcher when to fire, at which point two missiles are fired in rapid succession to improve the probability of a hit. The Patriot is 5 m long, reaches supersonic speed almost immediately after being launched, and ultimately accelerates to five times the speed of sound.

Performance Controversy

During the first Gulf War in 1991, the success rate of the Patriot in intercepting Iraqi Scud and Al-Hussein missiles was put at 80% in Saudi Arabia and 50% in Israel, according to U.S. Army figures. The reason the Patriot was said to be more successful in Saudi Arabia than in Israel had to do with the fact that in the former, missiles were aimed at military targets in the desert, whereas in the latter they were aimed at civilian populations. Also, reports on the performance of the Patriot in Saudi Arabia were conducted by the U.S. military and censored in the press, and in Israel the Patriot's effectiveness was monitored by Israel Defense Forces, and press coverage was not censored. Serious doubts about the Patriot were raised in a 10-month investigation by the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, where expert testimony indicated that the Patriot's actual success rate was likely only 10%, and possibly zero.

The controversy surrounding the Patriot missile has continued with the recent U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Patriot was implicated in the downing of a British Royal Air Force Tornado jet fighter during the invasion, and follow-up investigations on the downing of other British pilots blame the Patriot system. The U.S. Army, however, has not publicly acknowledged any serious flaws, despite published reports that computer program errors caused allied aircraft to be identified as incoming enemy missiles, triggering automatic targeting.

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