Patriot missile to track and destroy moving targets is entirely realistic
by Kris Osborn, President, Warrior
After blasting onto the scene during the Gulf War for successfully intercepting Iraqi SCUD missiles, the US Army Patriot missile systems has evolved far beyond its initial capabilities.
Looking simply at the amount of time that has passed in the more than 30-years since the Gulf War, one might be inclined to think that the Patriot would have become obsolete, dated or no longer relevant against emerging threats.
However, astonishingly, the Patriot missile has evolved from a system which intercepted unguided and inaccurate SCUD missiles to a weapon now capable of tracking and intercepting two maneuvering cruise missiles at one time and even reportedly capable of destroying moving aircraft, according to Raytheon developers. The possibility of Patriot missiles tracking or destroying moving aircraft, should the Ukraine reports be accurate, would represent a substantial leap forward for the Patriot system which has historically been engineered to track “ballistic” missiles following a parabola-like incoming trajectory.
Patriot Destroys Aircraft
It may not seem entirely plausible, yet the ability of the Patriot missile to track and destroy moving targets is entirely realistic due to progress made in modernization efforts. US Army and industry upgrades have succeeded in shepherding the Patriot system into the modern era. Early upgrades to the Patriot included a US Army software upgrade called Missile Segment Enhancement or MSE, an upgrade intended to improve radar interface, guidance and overall performance of the missile systems. In more recent years, the Patriot has been better networked and integrated with new generations or radar technology.
For example, the Patriot’s radar tracking technology has received paradigm-changing technologies being integrated with technologies such as Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS). This enhanced radar, integrated in recent years, enables Patriot radar to detect with a 360-degree aperture and, as reported in Ukraine, engage moving targets such as maneuvering cruise missiles and even aircraft.
Unlike the more linear directional configuration of the existing Patriot air and missile defense system, the Raytheon-built LTAMDS is engineered with overlapping 120-degree arrays intended to seamlessly track approaching threats using a 360-degree protection envelope.
Raytheon’s LTAMDS, called Ghost Eye, supported the launch of an SM-6 interceptor missile engineered to destroy incoming threats. This requires the engineering of specific interfaces, technical alignments and software adjustments to ensure otherwise separate systems can connect with one another. This connection was successfully demonstrated recently in an Joint military exercise known as Valiant Shield 24. A LTAMDS radar was networked with the Army’s Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) to launch an SM-6 at a specified target.
Networking upgrades
The Patriot has also been integrated to the US Army’s well-known and successful Integrated Battle Command System multi-node networking technology engineered to generate a multi-domain, expansive networked missile defense system. By connecting a series of otherwise disconnected nodes, IBCS is able to form a “mesh” network using a growing number of systems including Sentinel Radar, Patriot missile batteries and even air and surface nodes such as F-35s and ship-based Aegis Combat Systems. Some of the integration with platforms such as F-35s and Aegis radar is still in the testing phases, yet the progress introduces the possibility of creating a multi-domain missile defense “web” capable of sharing target track information across dispersed land, air and sea nodes. IBCS is also able to integrate a ground base-protection system called Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2 (IFPC Inc 2) and a software defined Active Electronically Scanned Array radar called AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR.
The ability to track and destroy multiple moving targets brings Patriot missile batteries into a new era, and it is something which would explain why deployment of the system continues to expand with US allies and protect critical areas around the globe. Perhaps future iterations of the Patriot will take its tracking technologies to even newer heights, including an ability to track and destroy faster-moving aircraft.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University