The UAE Buys the U.S. PATRIOT Missile System

The U.S. Army acting for the nation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) awarded Raytheon a $3.3 billion contract to provide PATRIOT air defense missile systems and support. The Huntsville Times reports that the contract award was very favorably received by Raytheon employees. The PATRIOT has been the standard ground based air defence missile system used by the Army for the last twenty-five years. It has been extensively modified to be used against ballistic missile threats. The UAE obviously is looking at regional powers that posses short and medium range ballistic missiles that might be a threat to it. The contract is a complete package to include training the operators and maintainers as well as providing the hardware and necessary support.