Raytheon: Army aware of missile's flaw

[sabra]

Source: Boston Globe

Army officials were aware that the Raytheon-built Patriot air-defense system had difficulty distinguishing between friendly and enemy aircraft but deployed the missiles in the Iraq war after deciding the system was needed to protect troops, a Raytheon Co. executive stated in a recent legal filing.

The statement was filed in a lawsuit brought by the family of a Navy pilot who was killed by a Patriot missile while flying over Iraq in 2003. The declaration marks a rare acknowledgment of problems with a mainstay of the Army's air-defense arsenal and underscores what Raytheon says is a key issue in the case - whether a defense contractor can be sued over the way soldiers use its products in the heat of combat.

Traditionally, defense contractors have been shielded from many claims by the "political questions doctrine," which bars courts from second-guessing some decisions by troops or other government representatives. Raytheon has raised this doctrine in the case filed in federal court in Boston by the family of Navy pilot Nathan D. White, who allege that the company was negligent in the design of the system and that its weaknesses were well known prior to the accident.

At a Dec. 19 hearing, US District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns denied a motion by Raytheon to dismiss the case, saying it raised "fascinating issues" that the family deserved the chance to explore.

...

However, later reviews forced the Army to scale back its claims Patriot had a near-perfect record shooting down incoming targets in that conflict, and led to heavy spending on upgrades. When Patriot missile batteries were deployed to protect troops in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, they destroyed nine incoming missiles but also were involved in three friendly-fire incidents that killed three allied airmen, including both fliers of a British Tornado jet.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/12/26/raytheon_army_aware_of_missiles_flaw/

[truthisfreedom]

1. Telling the good guys from the bad guys has been a theme in this war.

A never-ending one, apparently.

[underpants]

2. Reminds me of the reversal of the praise the Patriot got after Gulf1

when it was revealed that the Patriot didn't hit a single SCUD.

What a scam, Raytheon gets overpaid for something they told the buyer didn't work.

[damntexdem]

4. It's one thing to miss the foe.

It's something else entirely to hit the friend.

[FogerRox]

9. Scuds were hit in PG1, I saw video of one scud getting hit twice

but shooting 1000 Patriots and hitting 6 or 7, is still horrible.. .6% .7%.

It was the Scud launchers..... they never hit one.


IIRC.

[damntexdem]

3. Hmm, discriminating friend from foe is the basic requisite of missle-based defense.

So Raytheon perfected everthing but the most basic?

[Demeter]

5. I Started My Engineering Career at Raytheon in 1976

Is it any wonder that I gave up on engineering entirely by 1983?

\The corporate culture sucks, and the work is pointless.

[loudsue]

6. Pointless

and, at times, deadly. This war-like use of the wonderful science of Engineering is a waste of good minds.

[Diclotican]

7. Demeter

Demeter

It must be sad, both for that the weapon in this case doesn't work as planed. But also because You gave ut engineering entirely.. What a wast of energy, and talent both for you and for the company you was working for...

On the other side, you may get into something better, for you and for your family, so I guess it wasn't that bad, when it come to it..

By the way, I was born in 1976, when you was starting your career at Raytheon;)

Diclotican

Sorry my bad English, not my native language.

[Owl]

8. President Eisenhower was absolutely correct

in warning us of the military-industrial complex.

[FogerRox]

10. No one buys Patriots much, they fuckin suck, the Russians have sold S-300's to Iran

@ my blog

I offer you Irans S-300PMU-2. Twice the size, of the US Partiot missile & reportedly vastly superior (lacking the reputation of shooting down friendly aircarft), the S-300PMU-2 has been a good source of currency for Russia, who was the worlds leader in exported arms sales last year (31 billion).

Both Iran and Syria have recently been equipped with the very latest version of this missiles, the S-300PMU-2, which is larger, faster and even more efficient at hunting down its prey. The range of this upgraded missile is in excess of 125 miles, with the ability to acquire and kill targets flying as low as 30 feet. The Russians routinely shoot down random target drones travelling at 5,800 feet per second, and further claim the weapon is easily capable of destroying targets approaching at up to 15,500 feet per second, or Mach 14. Trust me, the S-300PMU-2 will swiftly take care of anything.

@ janes

the presence of these missiles will "create major problems for planners for years to come."

@ globalsecurity.org

According to a 7 December 2005 "Defense Update" commentary, "when deployed in an integrated network, an array of S-300 and Tor M-1 systems could pose a highly potent defensive network against any aggressor."

Didn't Bush give Israel and Saudi Arabia free patriot batteries.

FREE

I guess they have to give them away...

Videos of what Iran has bought new recently...


Video of S-300MU1

Video of Tor-M1, short range SAM