31.U.S. has deployed PAC-3 missile defense batteries to four Gulf states Geostrategy-direct.com Semana del 24 al 29 de septiembre.

U.S. has deployed PAC-3 missile defense batteries to four Gulf states

Geostrategy-direct.com Semana del 24 al 29 de septiembre.

MANAMA — The U.S. Air Defense Artillery Command is operating a range of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missile defense batteries in Gulf Arab states.

More than 800 U.S. Army soldiers have been operating and maintaining the Patriot air and missile defense batteries in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

PAC-3 ballistic missile defense system.

"The soldiers are sequestered in makeshift temporary camps in desolate surroundings without access to the local communities or cities of their host countries,"Riki Ellison, chairman of the Washington-based Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said.

Ellison, who recently toured a U.S. missile defense battery in Bahrain, said the U.S. Army's 11th Air Defense Artillery battalion maintains a PAC system inKuwait and Qatar. Other ADA battalions have been in rotation to operate Patriot batteries in Bahrain and the UAE.

"Each battalion is made up of four batteries consisting of six launchers, two radars, a command and control unit, independent communication hub and a portable power generator," Ellison, who attended a conference in Manama, said.

Ellison, in one of the first independent assessments of the U.S. missile defense umbrella in the Gulf, said the two ADA battalions protect GCC cities and military sites around American bases. He said the United States maintains thousands of troops and tens of billions of dollars in military assets.

"In addition, this protection overlaps the host country's cities, military sites and populations located nearby and around the U.S. bases," Ellison said.

Ellison has urged the U.S. military and the administration of President Barack Obama to expand missile defense assets in the Gulf. He cited the need for such systems as Aegis and the AN/TPY-2 forward-based X-band radar in Bahrain.

At the same time, Ellison warned that the U.S. missile defense umbrella has not been sufficiently protected. He raised the prospect of an attack by Al Qaida or Iranian-sponsored insurgents.

"Some sites are completely exposed and vulnerable to local intersections and potential terrorist activities," Ellison said.