French Air Force
SAMP/T and US Army PATRIOT missile units were set up at Allied Air Command
Ramstein on 27 April in static display in the margins of a US-led Air and Missile
Defense exercise and NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) exercise Steadfast
Alliance, which were held at HQ AIRCOM and other NATO entities and commands.
The US Army
PATRIOT firing unit consisted of three vehicles carrying the engagement
control, a radar and the actual launcher. The unit was provided by 10th Army
Air and Missile Defence Command stationed at Baumholder some 40 km away from
Ramstein. The French
Air Force SAMP/T medium range firing unit deployed the same set-up of three trucks
with the unit modules. It is based at the French Saint Dizier base near Nancy
(more details can be found at). The firing units were deployed with a
crew of 6-7 operators each.
While the
long-range, all-altitude, all-weather PATRIOT air defence system relies on a
static radar with a coverage of 120°, the medium range SAMP/T system exploits a
rotary radar that allows tracking and engaging high-speed threats with a
coverage of 360°. More details about the
systems can be found at http://www.army-technology.com/projects/patriot/ or http://www.army-technology.com/projects/aster-30/.
Both units are
possible national contributions to NATO’s BMD efforts. BMD is a system of
systems including national sensors and weapon systems connected to NATO's command and control system.
Allied Command Operations and HQ AIRCOM
are at the front line of NATO BMD. HQ AIRCOM is bringing to bear new Air
Command and Control systems to run all operational and tactical parts.
More to
follow on NATO’s exercise Steadfast Alliance which is focused on assessing the
Alliance’s entire BMD structure, including planning and decision-making processes at various levels.
Find more photos at the HQ AIRCOM Flickr account.