The U.S. Navy has deployed the Patriot PAC-3 missile defense system on a warship for the first time.

The US Navy has begun deploying the "Patriot" PAC-3 missile defense system for the first time on US Navy warships, aiming to enhance the ability of US warships to counter new hypersonic anti-ship missiles. According to the "Baird Maritime Report," Lockheed Martin spent a week demonstrating the expeditionary capability of the "Patriot" PAC-3 launcher on the US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship "Montgomery."

The standard air defense weapon on the Independence-class littoral combat ships is the RIM-116 "RAM" surface-to-air missile, used as a point defense system to defend against traditional anti-ship missiles. Lockheed Martin had previously installed MK70 payload delivery systems (PDS) on multiple US Navy vessels, including the Freedom-class littoral combat ship "Nantucket." The PDS is a containerized version of the MK41 vertical launch system. Theoretically, installing the PDS would enable each littoral combat ship to be capable of defending against ballistic missile attacks. However, the radar systems on littoral combat ships are poor and rely on other sensors to provide missile warning information, so the Independence-class littoral combat ships do not have independent anti-missile warfare capabilities. In addition, the number of "Patriot" PAC-3 missile launchers and missiles that can be carried by the Independence-class littoral combat ships is very limited. In short, the US military's approach seems more like trying to find something useful for the less effective littoral combat ships.

Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1842062735156236/

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