Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE IN THE 1990S
Mounted on a wheeled or tracked vehicle, MEADS features
both strategic and tactical mobility. Unlike the Patriot that required
the C-5 for air transport, MEADS will be transportable
on the ubiquitous C-130; in fact, this became the system’s
driving requirement. 14 The cost estimates fluctuate from the
original $36 billion, and the IOC has been pushed back from
2007 to 2010. 15
In May 1999, the three government consortium awarded
Lockheed-Martin the MEADS contract. This surprised some observers
in view of that company’s difficulties with the THAAD
program (see below). As the Americans desired, the missile will
be based on the PAC-3 missile as a cost-saving measure that
may cut the $5 billion missile development cost in half. MEADS
will be a versatile weapon, able to intercept ballistic missiles, as
well as defend against unmanned vehicles at lower altitudes. 16
Another system under development to fulfill the TMD role is
the Israeli Arrow (fig. 96). The Israelis began work on the project
in 1986 and gained US support two years later. This evolved into
an unusual weapon relationship that involved almost complete
US funding of the missile’s development, while the Israelis
funded the early warning and fire control system. 17 The Arrow
had considerable technical problems. In the period 1988 through
1991, its record was called disappointing, and the missile did
not achieve its first interception until November 1999. 18 The
Arrow was designed to have a footprint larger than the PAC-3
(one Arrow battery could cover as much area as four Patriot
batteries according to one source) but smaller than the THAAD.
Less mobile than the Patriot, it uses a blast-fragmentation
warhead to destroy its target. 19 The Israelis declared the system
operational in October 2000. They intend to field three batteries
with an overall program cost of $2–$10 billion. 20
In contrast to these lower-tier missile systems, the THAAD
system is an upper-tier system. It is intended to engage targets
at a minimum 200 km range and 150 km in altitude that will
give it 10 times the footprint of the Patriot missile. This extended
performance would permit a shoot-look-shoot capability—
sequential shots at an incoming missile. It will be more portable
than the Patriot, as it will be air-transportable aboard the
C-130. 21 Like the more recent US BMDs, it has a hit-to-kill
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