Getting To Know Patriot Missiles, American Weapons To Ukraine With Many Weaknesses

American-made Patriot missiles (Illustration of patriot missiles. (Wikimedia Commons)

YOGYAKARTA President Trump gave missiles to Ukraine against Russia. Based on information circulating, the ammunition provided is a patriot missile. The public recognizes patriot missiles as one of America's most advanced missiles. This article will provide information regarding the weapons of patriots of the United States.

The Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target or abbreviated as Patriot is a weapon in the form of a land-to-air missile defense system. In general, Patriot missiles are used to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, to even state-of-the-art aircraft.

Patriots were developed by Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N). Patriot projects have actually been developed since the 1960s. At that time they were used to fight fighter aircraft. However, in the 1980s, developers adopted advanced technology in these weapons to counter the threat of ballistic missiles at that time.

Reporting from Reuters, Patriot's weapon system varies depending on the type. For example, the type of PAC-2 is still implementing a traditional explosion fragmentation warhead that allows the target area to be affected. Meanwhile, PAC-3 has used high-accuracy explosion attack technology.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Patriot has a deterrence area of about 68 to 100 kilometers. While its radar system is capable of tracking 50 targets with a target lockdown capability of up to 100 targets, it is reported from the Army Technology website. Target lockdown is available in several modes, namely manual, semi-automatic, or automatic

Unfortunately, Patriot missiles are said to still have some drawbacks. For example, the ammunition was ineffective against small drone attacks.

Low-fly missile attacks have not been well anticipated. Not only that, CSIS also reported that to operate Patriot's defense system, 90 soldiers were needed. Of course it is considered less effective on the battlefield.

The price of Patriot missile weapons is also highlighted a lot. Because the weapon has a fantastic price. Even prices are considered to be one of the weaknesses of the United States weapon system.

Reporting from Reuters, one Patriot battery is valued at $1 billion, including $400 million for the system and $690 million for the missile in the battery. CSIS also said that Patriot's interceptor costs could reach $4 million per missile.

The high price of Patriots is also visible from countries that buy military weapons. Poland, for example, was forced to spend a budget of up to 4.6 billion euros for only one Patriot unit. This figure is equivalent to 25% of the total 2023 defense budget.

Not only that, Patriot's operating costs are also very expensive. In the one-time airstrike prevention test, the required costs amounted to 100 million US dollars.

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