patriot vs scud

[Shangui]

Did you know thatt a comission issued by the american senate has proven the ineffeciency of the patriot missile system against scud missiles ? The interception rates are from 0 to 11%. Yet, the american military still uses them. It's in fact being used in Iraq right now. What has t intercepted so far ? an english F-14 and an american F-18...

Whit the military budget of U.S.A, couldnt they just devellop a new, more efficient system ? They should at least remove the patriot missile from their defence array.

[TheShrike]

Is that the PAC-2 Or PAC-3 you refer to?

PAC-3's are far more efficient.

And' I'd like to remind you that Patriot Missiles have taken out faaaar more scuds than friendly aircraft.

http://www.army-technology.com/projects/patriot/

http://www.acq.osd.mil/bmdo/bmdolink/html/pac3.html

Think about what you're saying.

Really.

[Shangui]

Maybe this commition was outdated a little, but the original patriot test never did hit the scud in fact, their was never a scud in the air during the first field test, it was a glitch on the radar ! Maybe the patriot system can work, but has I said, the success rate is not at all satifying. Why run the risk ? Maybe changing the basics of the system could help it's efficiencie. Plus you can never innovate to much ! Maybe the new patriot is efficient against the scud, but is it against every missile ? North Korea has threatened of transforming U.S.A in a sea of fire if they intervined in the Korean nuclear program. I would not like to be the one explaining to the president the patriot has missed the missile and that a city has been wiped out by a nuclear strike...

[Jimsween]

First of all, patriot missiles arent meant to deal with nuclear weapons. If we succeeded in hitting it we would realease a cloud of radioactive gas inot the atmosphere. Second of all the patriots are very successfull, thier success rates against scuds are very high. And you have to realize they cant just pull new technology out of thier ass, when they invent it they will use it. The patriots may not be perfect but it is alot better than nothing.

[Shangui]

The warhead of a nuclear missile only activates just before impact... in either case, what are the defences against a nuclear attack then ? Makes you feel vulnerable. The North Korean menace is not to be taken lightly.

[Jimsween]

The nuclear missile can still detonate, I was taking into consideration that more poorly devoloped countries wont be using high density explosives. The only protection from nuclear threat is that if they launch theirs we launch ours.

[TheShrike]

We would defend ourselves from a nuclear attack with the controversial National Missile Defense Program.

And I'd like to say that if we were attacked by a country with nuclear ICBMs, they wouldn't have to be very advanced to skip right past our defense system (And it is still thin the testing phase.) See also multiple warheads and mylar balloons.

But back to the Patriot missile system.

The patriot missile is a very good deterent, and the use in this war is leaps and bounds ahead of past performance.
Using patriots against nuclear warheads is impossible (or at least, implausible), because as Jimsween said, the warhead could still be detonated, or if it hit it, it'd have the effect of a home-made dirty bomb detonated at a high altitude. High altitudes are the last place you want a dirty bomb to go off.

[JMHX]

I still like the Reagan "Star Wars" idea. Patriots have proven effective in Iraq, though, as you can see if you keep up on it. I've seen many more Al-Samouud II casings on the ground than I have Patriots that have missed the target.

You could hit a Scud by throwing rocks at it.
Patriot missiles have little problems hitting them.
Sure, they don't always hit, but no weapon does.

[JMHX]

At 4/12/03 01:45 AM, FlattusMaximus wrote: You could hit a Scud by throwing rocks at it.
Patriot missiles have little problems hitting them.
Sure, they don't always hit, but no weapon does.

That's the most intelligent thing I've heard all...hour. Sorry, I've been frequenting the PC Board, so I'm getting an overload of intelligence. I agree with you, though. Those things fly so low you could straddle them and ride 'em like a bull. I bet George has thought of that several times.

[panik]

"Fire the Laser"

Sling shots work well

[NEMESiSZ]

THe patriot is cheap and it gets the job done, very few ballistic missiles are launched, so there is no justification for all the research to make a better system. The Israelis, however, are under constant missile threat, and thus, invented the Arrow anti-ballistic system, I believe.