March 31, 2007:
The U.S. Army has just ordered
another 112 PAC 3 anti-missile missiles, for about $3.3 million dollars each.
The PAC 3 is smaller than the anti-aircraft version (PAC 2), thus a Patriot
launcher can hold sixteen PAC 3 missiles, versus four PAC 2s. A PAC 2 missile
weighs about a ton, a PAC 3 weighs about a third of that. The PAC 3 has a
shorter range (about 20 kilometers) versus 70 kilometers for the anti-aircraft
version.
