Background: How does the Patriot anti-aircraft system work?

NATO itself protects its airspace primarily with Patriot missiles, and now Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia, is also to receive this anti-aircraft defense from the United States.

Background: How does the Patriot anti-aircraft system work?

NATO itself protects its airspace primarily with Patriot missiles, and now Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia, is also to receive this anti-aircraft defense from the United States. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), this would make it the 19th country to have or plan to use this system.

Patriot ("Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target") is one of the most modern air defense systems in the world. Enemy aircraft, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles are fought with it. At a distance of around 100 kilometers and up to an altitude of 30 kilometers, the defense missiles can hit targets in an imaginary bell around the position - depending on the guided missile used.

The mobile launch station is reminiscent of large trucks and contains up to four launch containers. According to US military information, up to 16 defense missiles can be loaded in total, depending on the configuration. According to the US think tank CSIS, an anti-missile of the widely used Pac-3 version costs around four million dollars each.

Using a radar, the Patriot system first classifies flying objects in the sky into friend and foe categories. In the event of a threat, soldiers in the control center fire the guided missiles to render the attackers' objects harmless. Up to 50 possible targets can be monitored at the same time, actively fighting up to five.

The Bundeswehr has had the system since 1989. A few years earlier, the first Patriot units were put into service with the US Army. Since then the system has been further developed. The anti-aircraft defense was used for the first time during the Gulf War in 1991.

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