Posted on 06/11/2023 1:23:51 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Air-defense system is finally doing what it was designed for, 40 years later
The missiles were coursing toward Kyiv, some as fast as six times the speed of sound and many heading directly for the crew’s missile battery. The Ukrainians didn’t panic, their commander said in an interview. They didn’t have time.
Early that morning, May 16, the Patriot’s radar detected the missiles, including six Kinzhals, at a distance of about 125 miles. The system’s computer tracked the missiles and launched interceptors, destroying all of them, the last at a distance of about 9 miles—seconds before impact. “No one was 100% sure that the Patriot was capable of destroying a Kh-47 hypersonic missile,” said Col. Serhiy Yaremenko, commander of the 96th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, which defends Kyiv. “Ukrainians proved it.”
...Russian officials criticized the U.S. and allies on the decision to send Patriots, but said they wouldn’t be able to stop Russian missiles. Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the Patriot in December as “quite an old system.” “Fine, let them deliver it,” he told reporters. “We’ll smack the Patriot as well.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
*Apologies to E.C. Segar's, and his J. Wellington Wimpy character in his Popeye cartoons.
That’s kind of the point. Ukraine does not have that many high value targets worth defending
The Ukraine has been very beneficial for our politicians. No doubt about that!
The patriot missile DOESN’T work”
Is that so?
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Everyone knows the Patriot missile defense does NOT work as advertised, do you have a short memory? Saudi Arabia, Yemen know this firsthand.
“ Patriot Missiles Are Made in America and Fail Everywhere
The evidence is in: the missile defense system that the United States and its allies rely on is a lemon...”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/28/patriot-missiles-are-made-in-america-and-fail-everywhere/
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“ Why U.S. Patriot missiles failed to stop drones and cruise missiles attacking Saudi oil sites..”
https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/08/26/latest-variant-of-patriot-missile-misfired-in-major-test-of-command-system/
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Much info available, misfires, hardware faults, thrust vectoring system causes missile to “ boomerang”….why else has the US been struggling for years to find a replacement?
“ WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has been working toward a replacement for its Raytheon-made Patriot air and missile defense system for well over a decade, but it is closing in on bringing some key capabilities of its future system to bear in 2022.…”
If you think our Patriots are the latest and best, you have fallen victim to defense false media….just see how many “ variants” and models they were forced to make.
—”Mig 21 go for about $250K and Mig 29s go for a couple million a pop, or less”
Sounds like a money-making opportunity!
Why do you waste time posting... THINK of THE MONEY YOU COULD BE MAKING!!!
... right now there are five for sale on Trade-A-Plane.com in the US, ranging in price from $2.5 million—less than the sticker on a Bugatti Chiron supercar—to $4.65 million for a fully certified, fully flying 1986 model.Jul 6, 2021
6 Fighter Jets You Can Buy for Less Than the Price of a ...
The thought that losing the war in Ukraine will result in a North Korea style partition is probably wishful thinking. No way is Putin going to agree to highly fortified demiltarized zone defended with NATO weapons in Ukraine. The best that can be hoped for is a Russian puppet government lording it over a demiltarized and neutral Ukraine with a big security buffer. This is the worst of all possible worlds for the US - Russia controls the country while the West (ie America) foots the bill for the outrageously high reconstruction costs of the country. Putin does not really want to control the whole Ukraine but he may decide that ocupation of Ukraine is necessary for Russian security. In this case, things are going to pretty grim in Ukraine
EVERY inch of annexed territory will remain with Russia at minimum. Wanna bet on that?
Most of these systems EXCEED their stated capabilities, sometimes by a lot.
That’s the real calculus of war. How much does it cost to fire a patriot missile in defense vs. how much does it cost to launch a missile.
If you can get ahead of that game...you’ll eventually win (assuming it doesn’t take years to come out ahead on the math).
[The Russian have almost as many tanks as we have javelins]
The javelin crew goes home. The tank crew not so often.
They are mostly using anti-aircraft guns to take down drones. This article is talking about how the patriot is taking down the hypersonic missiles. Which is impressive regardless of who you want to win.
I take it as once again we were lied to about our capabilities for two reasons. 1) it keeps the enemy from knowing. 2) so they can keep getting more money.
So explain post 18.
Patriot missiles cost $4-$5 million each because that’s what they can squeeze Fed.gov for.
The fact that iron dome has a better success rate and costs only $50k per shot tells you all you need to know about how little value Fed.gov gets for its money
thank God and the foresight of the great Ronald Reagan and his Administration for the Patriot anti-missile system. bless him still.
What is supposed to be explained?
At first I thought they were tongue in cheek, but then I realized they were serious.
Claiming the system is a failure because “debris” rains down and kills one person after 7 missiles with (((warheads))) were intercepted is comically dishonest.
Why do you knuckleheads keep posting articles from the WSJ that require a subscription?
Since you ask, my assumptions.
1. These systems are designed to deal with a specific threat and they are very costly. They are selectively employed and not used to shoot down any trash flying around somewhere. A low flying POS drone worth a few thousand is not the type of target a Patriot engages even if this is heading on oneself.
2. Even if you hit something, it’s going to rain down, and in some cases the warhead might even go boom, albeit not on its intended high value target.
3. Air and missile defense is layered and integrated to where you have all these various systems working together.
Ukraine has pieces here and there and not all the parts, an assortment of Euro, US and Soviet systems, being operated in part by folks that received a crash course by us, with a limited supply... All of these advanced systems work best when they are part of a complete package where various parts compliment each other.
That’s why the US M1 or German Leo is going to not really make a difference. What makes a US M1 so bad ass is when it’s with an M2, infantry, supported with AH64, arty, combat engineers, ADA, etc. It’s when all the pieces come together when you get something really beautiful happening. Just drive an M1 through the country side like a clown, and it’ll get turned into a >$10,000,000 piece of burning metal by a $1000 IED or RPG... And that’s what is going to happen in Ukraine.
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