Israel plans to completely abandon Patriot air defense

It is noted that the Patriot air defense systems will be replaced in the coming months by more advanced air defense systems.

In February, the Israel Defense Forces said it was in the process of closing several Patriot batteries and that their personnel would be trained to operate the Iron Dome.

Patriot complexes will be completely deactivated within two months.

American Patriot batteries were successfully deployed against some of the Scud missiles fired from Iraq at Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.

The system officially entered Israeli service that same year, but was only intercepted for the first time in 2014, shooting down a Hamas drone launched from the Gaza Strip.

Over the next decade, the system, designed to shoot down planes, intercepted only about 10 targets, according to military officials, including Syrian fighter jets in 2014 and 2018.