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October 8, 2008
IWG Report 2007
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Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2)
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| Basing: | Land |
Details
Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) is a surface-to-air guided missile defense system designed to detect, target, and destroy incoming ballistic missiles flying three to five times the speed of sound. PAC-2 was first deployed by the U.S. during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and successfully shot down Iraqi Scud missiles. In doing so, it became the first anti-missile system to eliminate hostile warheads in combat.
The original Patriot Air Defense Missile System, dating back to the 1970s, was designed to shoot down enemy aircraft. During the mid-1980s, however, the U.S. Army decided to expand Patriot to deal with the growing threat of tactical ballistic missiles, in particular the Soviet SS-21A (Scarab A, OTR-21, Tochka), SS-21B (Scarab B, OTR-21, Tochka-U), and SS-23 (Spider, OTR-23, Oka). Initial modifications to the system were dubbed Patriot Anti-tactical Missile Capability-1 (PAC-1) and involved software, radar, and missile trajectory upgrades.
The second expansion phase, known as Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), occurred between 1986 and 1988. It included a superior interceptor missile as well as upgrades to its software and guidance algorithms. The enhanced PAC-2 system had the ability to shoot down longer range ballistic missiles. In particular, it was capable of destroying the hardened metal shell that surrounded most enemy warheads.
PAC-2 arrived not a moment too soon. On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and the U.S. immediately was faced with a serious problem: Iraq had Soviet-built Scud missiles capable of delivering both conventional and chemical weapons, and these Scuds were faster than the SS-21 and SS-23 missiles. The U.S. was certain that Hussein would launch if attacked. To make matters worse, the PAC-2 interceptor missiles were still in the initial stages of production and not scheduled for completion for another five months.
Raytheon immediately went into round-the-clock full-plant production mode and, by early January 1991, it had shipped 424 PAC-2 missiles to the Persian Gulf. On January 17, U.S. and Coalition forces commenced their air attack on Iraq. The following day, Saddam Hussein began firing his Scud missiles at military and civilian targets in Israel and Saudi Arabia. PAC-2 immediately went into action.
As deployed in the Middle East, each PAC-2 battery included four main components: a radar set, a command center, a mobile launcher, and the PAC-2 interceptor missiles themselves. During the war, the radar would scan the enemy skies with its overlapping beams, paying close attention to the horizon line. The radar contained 5,000 phase-shifting elements that could track up to 100 potential targets simultaneously at a range of approximately 63 miles (or 100 kilometers). Once an incoming Scud had been detected, the radar would immediately determine the speed, altitude, heading, and origin of the threat, and communicate this information via computer to the command center.
The command center, known as the Engagement Control Station (ECS), served as Patriot’s battle management, command, control, and communications center. Inside the ECS, Army operators would view potential targets on their display screens, calculate fire missions, and send launch instructions to the mobile launchers. The operators played another important role: determining friend from foe in order to minimize the number of “friendly fire” accidents.
The PAC-2 interceptors themselves were mounted on mobile launchers. Each launcher held up to four missiles in its launch canister, which doubled as a shipping container. The launchers were deployed to provide overlapping coverage, allowing Patriot to respond rapidly to attacks from all directions. Once an incoming Scud had been detected, the PAC-2 missile would streak toward its target at a speed of Mach 5 or faster. Each missile was 17.4 feet long, weighed 2,000 pounds, and carried a 200-pound fragmentation bomb with a proximity fuse.
As it approached the incoming Scud, the PAC-2 interceptor would switch on its Track-via-Missile guidance system that would illuminate the Scud with a special wave transmitted from the ground radar. To complete its “kill,” PAC-2 would fly straight towards its target and explode at the point of nearest approach. The explosion would either completely destroy the Scud, or knock it off course so that it would miss its intended target and land somewhere in the desert.
By February 1991, the U.S. had launched 159 PAC-2 missiles. Estimates of the number of successful interceptions ranged from 40 to 70 percent, mainly due to reporting deficiencies and varying definitions as to what constituted a “kill.” PAC-2 interceptors would often divert or disable the Scuds yet fail to completely destroy them, thus complicating the “kill” tally. Nevertheless, PAC-2 saved lives and became the first weapons system in history to destroy hostile ballistic missiles in combat.
After the war, the Army continued to field PAC-2, although it also began to develop the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), a further expansion of the Patriot system featuring improvements to the interceptor missile, radar system, software, and communications equipment. The main difference between PAC-2 and PAC-3 lay in the “kill” mechanism: while the PAC-2 used an exploding warhead to eliminate its targets, the PAC-3 is a “hit-to-kill” system and destroys its targets by the kinetic energy released in a head-on collision.
In 2002, Raytheon completed a separate upgrade of the PAC-2 missile, which became known as Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile Plus (GEM+). GEM+ missiles are essentially PAC-2 interceptors that have been refurbished, modernized, and integrated with the PAC-3 system. In 2003, the U.S. launched approximately 20 PAC-2 missiles during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the majority of which were GEM+ interceptors.
Sources
Army Technology.
“The Endgame.” Inside Missile Defense, 7 January 2004.
GlobalSecurity.org.
HowStuffWorks.
Raytheon Company.
“Raytheon Delivers Upgraded PAC-2 Missiles To Army.” Aerospace Daily, 15 November 2002.
Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
Sherman, J. Daniel. “Patriot PAC-2 Development And Deployment In The Gulf War.” Acquisition Review Quarterly, Winter 2003, 28-45.
Patriot GEM Test Successful, Two Ballistic Missile Targets Destroyed
Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missiles (GEM) successfully destroyed two ballistic missile targets during a recent test at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Two GEMs were ripple-fired at an incoming Patriot-as-a-Target, an older Patriot missile modified to represent a short-range ballistic missile target. As the intercept occurred, the Patriot Configuration-3 radar detected, tracked, and engaged a second target. A third GEM intercepted the second Patriot-as-a-Target, thus successfully completing the test’s objectives. According to prime contractor Raytheon, this was the first of four flight tests that will use the newly developed post deployment build-6 (PDB-6) software. PDB-6 was the result of “lessons learned” from Operation Iraqi Freedom when Patriot units destroyed all nine Iraqi missiles launched at the invasion force, but also mistakenly shot down two coalition planes. The PDB-6 upgrade is intended to allow the Patriot system to better discriminate between ballistic missiles, aircraft, cruise missiles, and other battlefield targets.
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), White Sands Missile Range
MIT Probe Rejects Postol Allegations of Fraud
Five years ago, Theodore Postol, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accused the university’s Lincoln Laboratory of committing fraud in a missile defense study. He argued that MIT scientists were acting in bad faith when they used what he said was flawed data to deem “basically sound” the results from a 1997 test of an infrared missile sensor. In the subsequent investigation, the Department of Defense refused to release classified information to Postol and others. The accusations were left unanswered for three to four years, which Postol denounced as fraud. Last fall, a panel of four MIT professors began looking into the matter, and The Boston Globe recently reported the panel’s conclusion that MIT did not make any serious mistakes. Rather, they found that Postol himself had impeded the investigation by modifying and amending his accusations over time. “The absence of a clear, concise and consistent definition of the allegation complicated the conduct of the inquiry,” the panel said. They faulted Postol further for revealing confidential information to the media and others.
» Oct. 23, 2005: The Boston Globe profiles Theodore Postol
» More stories on: Policy
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot
Chinese Version of Patriot Interceptor Said Undergoing Tests
China recently tested a new surface-to-air missile in northwest China, which is said to be similar in capacity to the American Patriot interceptor. South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo cites a recent bulletin from the People’s Liberation Army stating that the test involved the detection and downing of both a reconnaissance drone and an incoming ballistic missile by an interceptor “similar to the U.S. Patriot missile.” According to the Chinese launch commander, “This marks the official launch of the interceptor missile unit. We can intercept not only high-flying reconnaissance planes or missiles but also low-flying targets. Our accuracy is significantly high as well.”
» More stories on: China, Chinese Missile Defenses
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Patriot Problems Almost Resolved
The U.S. Army has almost completed modifications to its Patriot missile systems in order to prevent future friendly-fire accidents, reports DefenseNews. During the 2003 Iraq War, three friendly-fire deaths occurred when Patriot missiles mistakenly shot down Allied aircraft. On March 9, Lt. General Larry Dodgen, commander of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said that the Army has upgraded the training of its Patriot crews and added tactical data links to the system that should give them greater awareness of friendly and enemy aircraft. Last year, Congress allowed the Army to shift $43 million in funding to address the problems.
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Pakistan: Missiles Can Penetrate Proposed Indian Defenses
Pakistan has stated its confidence that its nuclear armed missiles could penetrate India’s proposed missile defenses. At a media conference on Monday, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf claimed that the Patriot has a kill-probability of around 40 percent, meaning that 60 percent of Pakistani missiles would pass through such defenses. He also described that the Patriot is a Cold War defense system with a response time appropriate for the long distance between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, not the short distance between Pakistan and India—a rather problematic statement. Musharraf would seem to be underestimating the capabilities of the PAC systems, and ignoring India’s stated plans to develop its own, distinct, defense systems.
» More stories on: India, Pakistan
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
South Korea Considering Buying Patriots from Germany
South Korea is considering buying second-hand Patriot missiles from Germany, reports the AFP. Klaus Von Sperber, director of international armament affairs in Germany’s defense ministry, recently traveled to Seoul to meet with Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-Ung and other Korean military officials. The AFP quotes a South Korean ministry official as saying, “The German official is in Seoul for talks on the sale of Patriot missiles deployed in his country.” South Korea hopes to phase out its aging arsenal of Nike surface-to-air missiles beginning in 2006.
» July 5, 2005: South Korea revives bid for Patriots
» More stories on: Allies, South Korea
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
South Korea Revives Request for Patriot Interceptors
South Korea intends to buy Patriot interceptor missiles to defend against North Korea, reports the AFP. South Korea hopes to phase out its aging arsenal of Nike surface-to-air missiles beginning in 2006, replacing them with new Patriots purchased from either the U.S., or second-hand ones from Germany. In 2000, Seoul came close to buying 48 Patriots from the U.S., but ultimately cancelled the purchase.
The article does not specify whether Seoul intends to purchase the PAC-2 or the upgraded PAC-3.
» More stories on: Allies, South Korea
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
U.S. Offers PAC-2 to India
The United States has offered India the Patriot PAC-II missile defense system, reports the Press Trust of India. The offer comes as part of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s announcement of a closer strategic partnership with India.
» More stories on: India
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2)
Israel Deploying Patriot Interceptors in Haifa
Israel yesterday deployed a Patriot air and missile defense battery was near Haifa Bay, weeks after Hezbollah had penetrated that airspace in northern Israel with an Iranian-built unmanned drone.
» Nov. 12: Debka: Patriot apparently removed before overflight, yet could have destroyed Iranian drone
» More stories on: Iran, Israel
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2)
Two Additional Patriot Batteries to go to South Korea
Soldiers departing from the U.S. Camp Casey in Dongducheon, north of Seoul, South Korea, will soon be replaced by a Patriot missile defense unit from Fort Bliss, Texas. Five hundred troops from the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade will man the units, to be stationed in Osan. Two Patriot brigades will be added, bringing the total batteries of Patriots in South Korea to eight. Each Patriot battery has six to eight launchers; each launcher can hold four PAC-2 missiles or 16 PAC-3 missiles.
» More stories on: Allies
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
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