European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 02, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                .  remove spent Patriot missile casings from their batteries with a Crane in the Haifa area. Israel has been the target of eight scud attacks so far on one night alone patriots intercepted three scuds in the. Haifa area and one Over Tel Aviv. _ War in the Gulf a weapons system that a earning its dollars by Luke Britt staff writer he first hero of the persian Guif War is not a daring fighter Pilot or Iron Jawed Marine but a missile called Patriot. As the world watches Patriot missiles Are blasting iraqi scud missiles from the sky with lethal accuracy. At last count 52 scuds had been launched and 49 intercepted Over saudi Arabia and Israel. Military officials credit the Patriot system with saving untold numbers of lives and. Helping keep Israel out of the War thus far. The primary Patriot contractor Raythelon co., forced to make cutbacks last year has been revived by. Investor interest in its High explosive Star. And advocates of strategic defense systems Are making the Patriot the Toast of Capitol Hill. In fact everyone except the iraqis seems pleased _ Quot it s been a Long time coming Quot said warrant officer 2 John Robbins a Patriot radar technician with the 6th in. 43rd air defense arty in Ansbach near Nurnberg  really tried to avoid publicity in the past but now everyone wants to know about the Patriot missile Quot _ the Patriot which has turned into one of the army a most expensive weapons systems Cost $4 billion Over five year began As a concept in 1961. Contract talks. Between the department of defense and Raythelon followed in 1966. Patriot was originally designed As an anti aircraft. Missile to replace the Hawk  anti missile capability was t added until 1985. Twice during production the system faced serious opposition in Congress in the 70s when politicians did no to think the system Wou old work. Later in the 80s, Many said  was too High. A a. Quot but what we have is an exceptional system that does just what Raythelon said it would Quot said it. Col Michael Jackson commander of the 6th in 43rd air defense arty which has batteries in the Gulf Region. Quot we finally have a weapons system that s earning its dollars Quot an officer in the Gulf told press Pool reporters there. The heart of the Patriot system is the phased array radar that was added late in the development stage. The radar is composed of 5,000 tiny antennas grouped on a panel that shoots Pencil Point signals across its assigned sector when coordinating with other. _ batteries technicians say the radar blankets vast areas. When the radar Quot picks up an object in the. Sky it locks on add compares the object s characteristics such As Speed and direction with set criteria to determine if it is hostile. If the object fails this test the computer will Tell technicians in a control station if a strike is needed. Unlike older guidance systems that basically let the missile find its own target the phased array radar talks Quot to the Patriot missile throughout its flight telling it just where the target is. A / the goal of the Patriot is  into the target s warhead. If for some reason the Patriot cannot hit the target it will explode at the nearest Point. Raythelon experts say the 200-Pound fragmentation explosion is enough to detonate another missile. A. If it misses a target altogether the Patriot is designed to Fly past the target and self destruct 50 Miles above the Earth. A Quot. A. Gay nother Patriot capability is its ability to determine if a missile whether launched from the ground or the air. Poses a threat. A. /. Quot we input into the computer All the assets potential target sin our sector and the computer can Tell if a missile is aimed Alan of these assets Quot said 1st it 1 Maie olm Cole a Patriot fire control officers la the computer sees that it Wilt land Iri an unpopulated area we it just ignore  there Are 10 Active Patriot battalions three in the United states and seven in Germany. Military officials declined to reveal How Many of those battalions Are in. The Gulf although Withas been reported that several. A Patriot batteries have been sent to saudi Arabia from Germany. Quot Quot Quot a spokesman for the 32nd air defense come Germany s Patriot command said All the batteries sent to Israel were from Germany. Quot we never doubted the Patriot Quot . Daniel continued on Page 14 saturday february 2, 1991 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13