The Patriot Air Defense System and the Search for an Antitactical Ballistic Missile Defense.

Abstract : The Army developed the Patriot missile system to defend against high performance aircraft. In the mid-to-late 1980s the Army developed a modified version (Patriot ATM) of the system to defend against tactical missiles (short-range ballistic, cruise, and air-to-surface). PAC-1 mods involved software changes and PAC-2, hardware changes (new fuse and larger fragments for the warhead). Patriot ATM was used during the Persian Gulf War in early 1991 to defend cities and sites in Saudi Arabia and Israel. Patriot's success against Iraqi Scuds spawned conflicting claims about who supported Patriot and who didn't. The legislative history of Patriot ATM is not that simple. It is linked to nearly-decade long congressional efforts to get DOD to respond to the tactical missile threat: first, the Soviet threat to NATO forces; now, the proliferating global threat. The public record reveals a congressional consensus for early deployment of an effective tactical ballistic missile defense (TBMD).