Greek MIM-104 Patriot missiles to protect Saudi Arabia.

Greece will send some of its Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia in the framework of a programme involving the US, Britain and France, Government spokesman Stelios Petsas announced on Tuesday, Feb.4.

Raytheon MIM-104 Patriot missiles (Picture source: Army Recognition)

“The deployment contributes to energy security, promotes our country as a factor of regional stability and strengthens our ties to Saudi Arabia,” Petsas stated, adding that talks on this operation started in October 2019. Earlier this week Petsas also stated that “around 130 personnel” would accompany the missiles. The political opposition expressed a strong reluctance toward this deployment, arguing that “This would be a Greek military presence outside the Mediterranean for the first time in decades,” leftist Eurodeputy Dimitris Papadimoulis tweeted in January.

The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied nations. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar component of the weapon system. The AN/MPQ-53 at the heart of the system is known as the "Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target" which is an acronym for PATRIOT. The Patriot System replaced the Nike Hercules system as the U.S. Army's primary High to Medium Air Defense (HIMAD) system, and replaced the MIM-23 Hawk system as the U.S. Army's medium tactical air defense system. In addition to these roles, Patriot has been given the function of the U.S. Army's anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system, which is now Patriot's primary mission. The system is expected to stay fielded until at least 2040.

Patriot uses an advanced aerial interceptor missile and high-performance radar systems. Patriot was developed at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, which had previously developed the Safeguard ABM system and its component Spartan and hypersonic speed Sprint missiles. The symbol for Patriot is a drawing of a Revolutionary War-era Minuteman.