Editing Gulf War (section)

===Scud and Patriot missiles===
[[File:Scud downed by Patriot missiles.JPEG|thumb|Military personnel examine the remains of a Scud.]]
The role of Iraq's Scud missiles featured prominently in the war. Scud is a tactical [[ballistic missile]] that the Soviet Union developed and deployed among the forward deployed [[Soviet Army]] [[GSFG|divisions]] in [[East Germany]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Scud missiles utilize inertial guidance which operates for the duration that the engines operate. Iraq used Scud missiles, launching them into both Saudi Arabia and Israel. Some missiles caused extensive casualties, while others caused little damage.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

The US Patriot missile was used in combat for the first time. The US military claimed a high effectiveness against Scuds at the time, but later analysis gives figures as low as 9%, with 45% of the 158 Patriot launches being against debris or false targets.<ref name="Cirincione"/> The [[Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)|Dutch Ministry of Defense]], which also sent Patriot missiles to protect civilians in Israel and Turkey, later disputed the higher claim.<ref name=nederland2009 /> Further, there is at least one incident of a software error causing a Patriot missile's failure to engage an incoming Scud, resulting in deaths.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ima.umn.edu/~arnold/disasters/patriot.html |title=The Patriot Missile Failure |publisher=Ima.umn.edu |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> Both the US Army and the missile manufacturers maintained the Patriot delivered a "miracle performance" in the Gulf War.<ref name="Cirincione">{{cite web |first=Joseph |last=Cirincione |author-link=Joseph Cirincione |title=The Performance of the Patriot Missile in the war |url=http://www.ceip.org/files/projects/npp/resources/georgetown/PatriotPaper.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031223120310/http://www.ceip.org/files/projects/npp/resources/georgetown/PatriotPaper.pdf |publisher=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]]|date=October 1992 |archive-date=23 December 2003 |access-date=4 December 2005}}</ref>