While I agree with the main point @ThrustWR is making here, I think that there is still room for improvement when it comes to the counter-hypersonics capabilities of the Patriot system as a whole.
The PAC-3 CRI/MSE were designed first and foremost to counter the newly...
...proliferated TBM threat of the 2000-2010 period. One of the main design drivers for those designs was the understanding that ATBM is fundamentally altitude-limited, rather than range-limited. Because of the specificities of ballistic trajectories (including those of 1st and...
Feb 1, 2024 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
A few days ago, HMS Diamond destroyed a Houthi drone with an Aster 30 missile. The interception was captured by an IR camera, and shows interesting details of the Aster terminal stage.
The Aster missile has a very specific architecture, aimed at achieving HTK précision through the use of both aerodynamic (PAF - Pilotage aérodynamique en force) and thrust vector (PIF - Pilotage inertiel en force) control. This allows the missile to be very...
