BAD HARDWARE WEEK

WASHINGTON - A U.S. Army unit mistakenly launched a Patriot PAC-3 anti-aircraft missile from an American base in the Persian Gulf country of Qatar, U.S. military officials said.

The PAC-3 missile, an upgraded version of the Patriot, landed nearby on a farm and caused no damage, the Qatari military said, according to a statement carried by the Qatar News Agency. The land, about 4 miles north of the base at Camp As Sayliyah, may be owned by Qatari royal Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, said an official at Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East.

But Army Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, a spokeswoman for the Central Command in Qatar, said she didn't think the land was owned by al-Thani.

No damage? Well, we would like to see next time Patriotic miss firing of nuclear war heads to see some collaterals. Let me quote further:

Military officials credited the Patriot system with intercepting all nine Iraqi ballistic missiles that it went after during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But, the system also was blamed for the downing of a U.S. F/A-18 Navy jet, killing its pilot, and of a British Tornado, killing its crew of two.