US doubles down on Patriot to hold China, Russia at bay

The US Army has halted plans to replace its Patriot missile system, opting to enhance the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) interceptor instead.

The PAC-3 MSE has proven effective in Ukraine against Russian hypersonic missiles but still faces challenges in countering advanced missile threats and saturation attacks. The decision, announced during the Association of the US Army’s annual conference, was taken due to the replacement program’s high costs, Defense News reported.

The report says that the US Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) system, which includes the Integrated Battle Command System and the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), will continue to evolve.

It will focus on enhancing the PAC-3 MSE to counter future threats, including hypersonic and maneuverable ballistic missiles expected by 2040.

Defense News states that the US Army is exploring tighter integration between the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot systems to create more efficient battle space management by allowing the use of both interceptors against advanced threats.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has already conducted some integration work in the Indo-Pacific theater, demonstrating the potential benefits of this approach.

The Patriot missile has a mixed combat record in Ukraine, showing effectiveness against Russian hypersonic missiles while also exhibiting vulnerabilities.

For instance, in May 2023, The New York Times reported that Ukrainian-operated Patriot missile air defense systems successfully intercepted six Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles over Kiev.

That success, noted by Peter Mitchell in a May 2023 Modern War Institute article, may stem from the