The Patriot anti-missile system

2003-03-20 12:42

Washington - The Patriot anti-missile system was used during the 1991 Gulf War with a lot of fanfare but limited success.

Conceived as a shield against enemy missiles, the interception system showed its limits during Iraqi Scud missile attacks on Israel and Saudi Arabia at the start of 1991.

Thirty-nine missiles were fired at Israel, causing the death of two people and wounding several hundred. The direct hit of a Scud on a building housing US troops in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killed 28 people.

The Pentagon admitted a few years later that the success rate of Patriot interceptions had been 70 percent in Saudi Arabia and just 40 percent in Israel.

The first-generation Patriots used in the Gulf War have since been replaced by higher-performance Patriot PAC-2 missiles. They in turn will be overtaken by the Patriot PAC-3, under development since the end of the 1990s.

- AFX