Patriot is an American air defense system that operates with a battery of medium-range surface-to-air missiles. It can defend the equivalent of a large city, but not an entire country. VIDEOGRAPHIC
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00:00Patriot is an American air defense system that operates with a battery of medium-range
00:12surface-to-air missiles.
00:16It is renowned for its fast response time, ability to aim at several targets at once,
00:22ease of movement, and resistance to electronic jamming.
00:28Each Patriot battery typically includes an engagement control station, a radar set to
00:33detect enemy targets within a 150-kilometer area, detection and jamming antenna, and several
00:40launch stations.
00:42All of these elements are mounted on trucks.
00:46Each launcher can hold four PAK-2 aerial interceptor missiles.
00:50They detonate close to the attacking missile, which is destroyed by their fragmentation
00:55warhead.
00:57The launchers can also accommodate 12-16 new-generation PAK-3 interceptors.
01:03These are more precise due to a new interceptor with hit-to-kill technology, which would destroy
01:08targets by striking them directly.
01:13The size of the defense area depends on many parameters, including target type, speed,
01:19and altitude.
01:22At most, one Patriot battery can defend the equivalent of a large city, but not an entire
01:28country.
01:32The Patriot defense system is useful against short-range ballistic missiles, but is less
01:38effective against low-flying missiles and drone strikes.
01:44Each interceptor missile costs around $4 million, and a complete battery is more than $1 billion.
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