Agreed. Except that Patriot is not capable of intercepting hypersonic missiles. That would take something more like the THAAD system (but maybe not, since it is designed for high-altitude interception), which is not deployed in Ukraine Or the Navy AEGIS/Standard system (more likely). Huddling under a Patriot "umbrella" would be about as useful as a real umbrella.
I think the upgraded patriots are indeed intercepting hypersonic missiles. Russia has taken a couple Patriot batteries out, but from what I can tell it looks like they overwhelmed them with superior numbers. As opposed to firing 1 missile and the battery being unable to hit it.
Patriot was not designed to engage such targets. It might make a valiant effort, but it is outclassed. The closing velocity is too great for the system to respond. (It had a poor record against Scuds in Gulf War 2.) This may be less challenging for a PAC-3 missile variant, but I don't know if those had been provided to Ukraine.
Agreed. Except that Patriot is not capable of intercepting hypersonic missiles. That would take something more like the THAAD system (but maybe not, since it is designed for high-altitude interception), which is not deployed in Ukraine Or the Navy AEGIS/Standard system (more likely). Huddling under a Patriot "umbrella" would be about as useful as a real umbrella.
I think the upgraded patriots are indeed intercepting hypersonic missiles. Russia has taken a couple Patriot batteries out, but from what I can tell it looks like they overwhelmed them with superior numbers. As opposed to firing 1 missile and the battery being unable to hit it.
Patriot was not designed to engage such targets. It might make a valiant effort, but it is outclassed. The closing velocity is too great for the system to respond. (It had a poor record against Scuds in Gulf War 2.) This may be less challenging for a PAC-3 missile variant, but I don't know if those had been provided to Ukraine.