Dragon 3563 1/35 Scale, SAM Missile System, PAC-3 M901 Launch Station, MIM-104F Patriot, Plastic Model Kit (DG3563)

Contents

Dragon 3563 1/35 Scale, SAM Missile System, PAC-3 M901 Launch Station, MIM-104F Patriot, Plastic Model Kit.

Model Specifications

• Resolution: 1/35
• Material: Plastic
• Variation: SAM Missile System, PAC-3 M901 Launch Station, MIM-104F Patriot
• Category: Military Land Vehicles, Modern
• Kit Separation: 1 piece

The MIM-104 Patriot is a modern US medium-range surface-to-air missile system. The first prototypes of the MIM-104 Patriot missile appeared in the late 1960s and entered the inventory of the US armed forces in 1981. The latest versions of MIM-104 missiles can hit air targets at an altitude of up to 25 km and a distance of up to 160 km and carry a warhead weighing up to 90 kilograms. In the US Army, the Patriot system is usually built on a wheeled chassis, most often on M983 Oshkosh trucks.

The MIM-104 Patriot system was developed by Raytheon to replace the MIM-23 Hawk and MIM-14 Nike Hercules missiles. Work on it started in 1961 and successful test firing dates back to 1969. However, soon after, the US armed forces changed the requirements for the system and decided to use the Missile Tracking (TVM) system, which assumes that the missile collects information about the target in a situation where it has already been fired. This requirement significantly increased the difficulty level of the entire enterprise and significantly extended the running time. It was only possible to meet the high demands of the American armed forces in the late 1970s, and the MIM-104 Patriot system began to enter service in 1981. The Patriot system was initially a regional air defense system designed to combat enemy aircraft, but starting in the early 1990s, with the introduction of the MIM-104C missile and the use of much more advanced guidance systems and radars, the system gained short- and medium-range combat capability against enemy ballistic missiles. The system was used especially in Operation Desert Storm in 1990-1991. Countries using the Patriot system include Greece, the Netherlands, Israel, Japan and Germany, as well as the US armed forces. The system has also been introduced to Poland under the Wisła programme.