[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 14 (Friday, February 11, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 THE PATRIOT: AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY

                                 ______


                        HON. PETER G. TORKILDSEN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 11, 1994

  Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, the Patriot Air Defense System 
represents a remarkable technological achievement for our country. It's 
performance against tactical ballistic missiles during Desert Storm--
against a threat for which the system was not originally designed--is a 
major success story for American technology, the American worker, and 
the American Armed Forces. From a military perspective, it protected 
airfields, key debarkation points, and critical assets while allowing 
the United States and its allies free access to all required airspace. 
From a strategic perspective, it denied Saddam Hussein any significant 
success with his most touted terror weapon, the Scud. The effective use 
of Patriot during the war saved countless military and civilian lives, 
reduced major damage to civilian dwellings, protected allied war 
fighting assets necessary for the successful prosecution of the 
campaign and allowed Israel to remain out of the conflict.
  In Saudi Arabia, Patriot was an outstanding success. The United 
States Army has officially scored Patriot's success at over 70 percent. 
Patriot units were deployed with the first United States troops to 
enter Saudi Arabia and were under the command and control of the United 
States Army and were operating under procedures developed and optimized 
over time by the United States Army who had ample time to optimize the 
defense design and conduct training exercises from locations that would 
later engage actual incoming Scuds attacks. When Desert Storm was 
initiated, all Patriot fire units were strategically in place, ready to 
protect key national, and military assets with trained troops prepared 
to engage the enemy.
  In Israel, the opposite occurred. Patriot fire units were hastily 
deployed after a number of Scuds had already inflicted heavy damage to 
the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. There was little time for site 
optimization or onsite crew training and the Israeli crews manning 
Israeli Patriot units had not finished their training on Patriot in the 
United States. When the Israeli soldiers were sent to war with their 
Patriot equipment, they had only completed 6 weeks of a scheduled 16-
week operational training course in the United States and, although 
hard to believe, they had never fired a Patriot missile. Furthermore, 
all Patriot units in Israel were under the control of the Israeli 
Defense Force, which was itself unfamiliar with Patriot operations.
  The sites chosen for deployment in Israel resulted in gaps in overall 
coverage, poor in defense of urban areas and high radar interference 
from surrounding structures. In addition, radar beams were improperly 
directed into buildings which caused Patriot missiles to fly into the 
ground after launch. To further complicate the situation, an ad hoc 
group of academicians involved in the defense process initiated 
experimentation with Patriot which included: continually modifying the 
firing doctrine; changing intercept altitudes; cross firing from 
multiple fire units; and authorizing operators to fire at will. Given 
all this, it is a miracle that Patriot worked at all against tactical 
ballistic missiles in Israel since the system was deployed and operated 
in conflict with established United States Army doctrine. Even under 
the conditions described above, Patriot successfully intercepted over 
40 percent of the Scuds it engaged in Israel.
  The United States should be proud of Patriot and the role it played 
in helping win the gulf war and hold the coalition together. All of us 
should be proud that the system stands guard today here at home and in 
many foreign countries, and helps to preserve peace in many parts of 
the world.

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