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Billions Spent on U.S. Weapons Didn't Protect Saudi Arabia's Critical Oil Sites

(Washington Post) Adam Taylor - The Saturday attack on Saudi oil facilities represented an unusually well-planned operation that would have been difficult for even the most well-equipped and experienced countries to detect and neutralize. The operation appeared to circumvent Saudi Arabia's six battalions of Patriot missile defense systems. Thomas Karako, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that in theory the Patriot system could protect against low-flying cruise missiles and drones, although it is primarily designed for ballistic missiles. However, it would depend where it was placed. "The defended area for a Patriot battery is relatively small," Karako said. "There are real limits, even if you have a ton of Patriots, on what you can defend."
2019-09-18 00:00:00
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