The agency has awarded the production and delivery contract to COMLOG, a joint venture between Raytheon and MBDA, the transatlantic military alliance said in a statement, adding that production of the missile in Europe will be expanded.
Patriot air defense system during a previous exercise in Lithuania. Photo: Reuters
“The multinational consolidated procurement, in the spirit of the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), delivers economies of scale and supports the expansion of new GEM-T missile production capacity to meet growing demand,” NATO said in a statement.
Patriot, short for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a broad-based surface-to-air missile defense system manufactured by Raytheon Technologies Corp and considered one of the most advanced air defense systems in the US arsenal.
The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, with batteries defending Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel, and was later used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
It is a mobile system that usually includes a powerful radar, control station, generator, launch station and other support vehicles.
The system has different capabilities depending on the type of interceptor used. The PAC-2 interceptor uses a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, while the newer PAC-3 uses more advanced hit-to-kill technology. The system's radar has a range of more than 150 kilometers.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a newly produced Patriot battery costs more than $1 billion, with the core system costing $400 million and the missile battery costing $690 million.
Huy Hoang (according to Reuters)
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