Patriot and Avenger reset: applying Lean Manufacturing techniques during the restoration of the Patriot and Avenger air defense systems reaped significant savings for the Government.

At the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, coalition forces repeatedly relied on the Patriot air defense missile system to knock out Scud missiles launched toward coalition command posts, base camps, and advancing troops. On 20 March 2003, Patriot batteries successfully intercepted and destroyed two Iraqi tactical ballistic missiles fired at Kuwait. In the days that followed, other missiles were successfully destroyed. Air defense artillery units performed brilliantly in Operation Iraqi Freedom, intercepting every Iraqi missile fired toward Kuwait or coalition forces except those whose trajectories indicated that they would fall harmlessly into the empty desert or the ocean.

Patriot Missile System

The Patriot is the Army's most advanced air defense system. Since it was fielded in 1982, it has proven itself to be a combat multiplier for combatant commanders. Capable of defeating both high-performance aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles, it is the only operational air defense system that can shoot down attacking missiles. A Patriot battery (the basic firing unit) consists of a phased-array radar set, an engagement-control station, computers, power-generating equipment, and up to eight launchers, each holding four ready-to-fire missiles. Approximately 90 soldiers are assigned to a battery, but only 3 are needed to operate the battery in combat.

During the early stages of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, the Patriot batteries were …