05-21-2023, 11:16 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/military-expe...00442.html
The above article contains a lot of nonsense. It is amazing what gets published. The idea that the Ukrainian operators did something unique when the Patriot is acknowledged to have been operating in automatic mode is absurd on it's face. On top of that, the Patriot isn't designed to shoot down Shahed 136 class drones, or even KH-55 class cruise missiles. It can engage KH-55s, but it is constrained (as are all other systems) by the radar horizon. A Patriot is only marginally "better" at shooting down a KH-55 than an NASAMS is. A Patriot will not see a KH-55 at all if operating strictly in anti-ballistic missile mode. No horizon scan. A Shahed 136 flies so slow my guess is the clutter filters don't see it as a moving target :-). Ukraine didn't shoot Iranian drones down with Patriots either. They have a more appropriate approach for them that doesn't involve the Patriot.
The above article contains a lot of nonsense. It is amazing what gets published. The idea that the Ukrainian operators did something unique when the Patriot is acknowledged to have been operating in automatic mode is absurd on it's face. On top of that, the Patriot isn't designed to shoot down Shahed 136 class drones, or even KH-55 class cruise missiles. It can engage KH-55s, but it is constrained (as are all other systems) by the radar horizon. A Patriot is only marginally "better" at shooting down a KH-55 than an NASAMS is. A Patriot will not see a KH-55 at all if operating strictly in anti-ballistic missile mode. No horizon scan. A Shahed 136 flies so slow my guess is the clutter filters don't see it as a moving target :-). Ukraine didn't shoot Iranian drones down with Patriots either. They have a more appropriate approach for them that doesn't involve the Patriot.