Oft-Criticized Patriot Missile Does Its Job

An American Patriot missile made a point today.

The Patriot intercepted an Iraqi Scud early in the morning moments before the enemy projectile would have reached U.S.-led troops at Dhahran International Air Field.

“I’m glad it worked,” a relieved Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ron Morse said of the widely criticized Patriot.

“Some congressman have complained that it isn’t any good, that the Navy doesn’t know how to use it,” Morse scoffed. “Well, I guess we showed them.”

The Scud was fired at the airport, apparently from a mobile launcher in neighboring Kuwait, just a few hours after seven such missiles hit Israel.

“It was a light in the sky. Initially, I thought it was a plane,” said Army E5 Bjorn Schulze, who watched the incoming fire from the balcony of his apartment on the outskirts of the air base.

Seconds later, Schulze said he realized “this was no plane” and a streaking Patriot knocked the Scud out of the sky.

“There was a flash and then you could hear a boom,” Schulze said.

Base officials, fearing the Scud had been carrying deadly chemicals, sounded alarms and the troops donned gas masks.

“People screamed ‘Gas!’ ” said Army Spc. Sidney Sizemore. “We headed for a secure building.”

Within a few hours, military authorities determined that the Scud carried no such payload. But the troops were still talking about it.

“It’s scary,” said Schulze, a young Army reservist from Ft. Lewis, Wash. “Not scary, but I was nervous. I was really nervous.”

Army Capt. Robin Milonas said the Scud was at an estimated 30,000 feet when it was stopped. Witnesses said it looked like it was nearly overhead.

“People felt like cheering,” Milonas said.

News of the Scud greeted 125 reporters as they climbed off a U.S. military cargo plane from a 19-hour flight from Washington. Many promptly bought gas masks.

IRAQI SCUD-B Medium range, surface-to-surface missile Length: 37 feet Diameter: 3 feet Launch weight: 7.0 tons Payload: One 2,172-lb. warhead, conventional or chemical Propulsion: Liquid fuel Accuracy: within 1,476 feet Range: 186 miles Scud-B on its MAZ-543 transporter/erector/launcher vehicle Source: Jane’s Soviet Intelligence Review