submitted 3 days ago by LaFinlandia@sopuli.xyz to c/ukraine@sopuli.xyz

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[-] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 16 points 3 days ago

The older munition for the Patriot is called a PAC-2, and an upgraded interceptor missile is called a PAC-3.

Clarification, because journalists seem to have a comical level of difficulty getting the nuances of a lot of military hardware right:

There are actually quite a few missile and launch system variants, and “higher number” doesn’t necessarily mean “better”, nor “lower number” “worse”.

PAC-2 has a longer range than PAC-3, and also has a ~10x larger warhead, despite being “less PAC”.
PAC-3 has ABM capability
Patriot launchers can mount 4 “units”, where a “unit” is a single PAC-2 cell, or 2-4 PAC-3 cells.
It is also possible to mix-and-match 2/3, including subvariants thereof, so a single battery can use the most appropriate missile for the threat it’s trying to kill (for instance, a PAC-3 for ballistic threats, vs a PAC-2 for a Tu-95 or MiG-31).