Patriot Missile System Supplies Dwindle as Global Demand Spikes

The Patriot is a special military machine called an air defense system.

It is like a smart shield that protects people on the ground from dangerous things flying in the sky, like rockets and missiles.

It was first used in a war in 1991 and is built by American companies called Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

Right now, many countries need Patriots because there are two big conflicts happening in the world.

Ukraine uses them to defend against Russian missile attacks at night, and the Middle East war has used up many missiles too.

The missiles that the Patriot fires are called interceptors, and they are running low in the US and other countries.

Some European countries are saving their missiles in case they need them for their own protection.

To fix this, the US is making more missiles and selling them to countries like Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.

One Patriot battery costs over one billion dollars, and each interceptor missile costs about four to five million dollars.

That is why these missiles are seen as so valuable and are in short supply.