The Patriot missile system is the world's premier air defense system, effective against low to high altitude air threats in defense of ground combat forces and critical assets. It can perform simultaneous engagements against attacking tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft. The key features of the Patriot system are its multifunction phased array radar, the Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical (GEM-T) missile variant with semi active homing, the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missile variant with active homing, Patriot's interoperability with other defense systems, and its automated operations with human override. Its design robustness allows it to be self-contained and mobile when required.

Since Patriot production began, more than 200 Patriot fire units have been delivered to 12 nations around the world, including the U.S. and five NATO nations. The growing list of partners includes the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Spain, Korea and the United Arab Emirates. An international industry team of more than 4,000 suppliers and subcontractors support the Patriot air and missile defense system. Patriot began its development in the late 1960s timeframe to counter a potential massive raid against Europe by Soviet aircraft employing a wide variety of sophisticated electronic countermeasures.

The Patriot radar has the capability to track a wide varietyof targets under saturation raid conditions and can support the simultaneous operation of multiple Patriot missiles to defend against the threat. As the threat grew. Patriot's capability was enhanced to support, simultaneously, the operations of the evolutionary GEM-T missile and the new PAC-3 missile.