US Navy Plans to Equip Ships with Patriot-3 Missiles to Intercept Chinese Hypersonic Weapons
October 28, 2024
The US Navy ispushing forward with plans to equip some of its warships with Patriot missiles, citing concerns about China deploying hypersonic weapons to sink ships deployed in the Pacific, according totwo senior defense officials cited by foreign media.
The move, first reported by Reuters, comes as the US military seeks to counter China’s rapid military modernization, particularly its advancements in hypersonic missile technology. The Patriot-3 MSE interceptor, currently used primarily by the US Army, is being considered for integration into US Navy vessels.
The integration of the Lockheed Martin-made missile withship-based air defense systems is a significant step in the US military’s efforts to address the growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region and China’s rapid military modernization, the report stated.
The Patriot system has proven successful inUkraine, where it has been used to intercept Russian hypersonic missiles. The US Navy believes it can add another high-probability option to its missile defense systems.
However, the US Navy acknowledges that further testing is required before the Patriot-3 MSE can be fully integrated into its arsenal. This includes testing launches from shipsand verifying compatibility with the SPY-1 radar system.
Military expert Zhang Junsha, speaking to the Global Times, highlighted the technical challenges associated with integrating the Patriot system onto US Navy ships. He pointed out that the US Navy’s current main surface combat vessels, the Ticonderoga-class cruisers and theArleigh Burke-class destroyers, rely primarily on the Aegis system and Standard missiles for intercepting ballistic missiles from the sea.
There are several technical issues that need to be addressed for the Patriot to be deployed on ships, Zhang said. The Patriot-3 and the Standard-3 missiles have different purposes. Now, the US Navy wants to put the Patriot-3 on ships to create a defense system that combines long-range and short-range capabilities, increasing the probability of missile interception. But deploying two air defense missile systems on one ship is not a simple task. It requires a series of technical modifications, including findingspace for missile storage, sharing launch platforms, and addressing other logistical details.
Zhang further argued that the US military’s pursuit of advanced missile defense systems is driven by a desire to maintain absolute military superiority over its adversaries. He cited the US Navy’s previous attempts to integrate the Tomahawk cruise missile system onto land-basedplatforms and now its efforts to deploy land-based missiles on ships.
This move proves that the US military is using the so-called ‘Chinese missile threat’ as an excuse to continuously develop its missile strike capabilities across sea, land, and air, seeking absolute military dominance, Zhang concluded.
References:
- Reuters, U.S. Navy plans to equip ships with Patriot missiles to counter China: sources (October 27, 2024)
- Global Times, US Navy plans to equip ships with Patriot missiles to intercept Chinese hypersonic weapons (October 27, 2024)
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