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Thanks, and if that's the case, I'm thrilled the report was wrong. The Fox reporter specifially said Patriot missiles were outdated to successfully intercept the current class of missiles. I guess the reporter had a little touch of 'Geraldo'itis.

I think Israel has the older generation of Patriot, dating from Desert Storm. I don't know whether they have the more advanced PAC3 or not, I cursory search of globalsecurity and some other defense information sites didn't turn anything up, either way. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they did (either having bought them for us, or having "borrowed" a few US-manned batteries, like they did during ODS) and just aren't telling anyone about it.

The Patriot, regardless of version, isn't really a boost-phase interceptor in ABM mode (remember that the older Patriots were designed mainly to shoot down aircraft, with BMD a secondary role). It's a point-defense weapon designed to intercept and knock an inbound missile/warhead of course when it's in its terminal phase. While the PAC3 would be the optimal choice in such a scenario, the older verions of Patriot would probably be "successful" ... success defined as having an Iranian nuke detonate somewhere other than directly over Tel Aviv.