During the Persian Gulf War, Patrick P. Caruana was in charge of knowing where and when Iraqi Scud missiles would drop.

Now, as vice president and program manager of TRW Inc.’s Space-Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS Low) program, Caruana will lead the team designing a system that can pinpoint even more precisely where missiles have been launched and where they are headed.

Caruana now has the chance to design a defense system that will replace the one he oversaw as a lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force. “I am very excited, and appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this program. It’s essential for the country and our allies because of the worldwide capabilities that it gives us,” he said.

TRW/Raytheon was awarded one of two SBIRS Low program contracts from the Air Force to develop the next generation of ballistic missile early-warning systems. The team is coming up with design specifications for the satellites involved; the Air Force will later decide whether to build the ones designed by TRW or those created by its competitor, Spectrum Astro in Arizona.

Set to launch in 2006, the new program will replace the existing Defensive Support Program (DSP), which has been in operation since 1970. In the new program, 20 to 30 satellites will orbit the globe every 90 minutes at the relatively low altitude of 22,000 feet, replacing the 19 older satellites currently in the DSP. The satellites will be designed to see a missile after it has been launched and separated from its booster, providing earlier warning for civilian populations and coalition forces.

“The new system will have greater precision, and the added capacity to see the missile after it has separated or burned out,” Caruana said.

He joined TRW in 1997 as special assistant for strategic planning in the defense systems division of TRW Space and Electronics Group.

Caruana, 59, spent 36 years in the Air Force, where he was a command pilot and flew more than 5,000 miles with 500 combat hours. As the first commander of the 14th Air Force command, he directed the Air Force’s only space force. During the Gulf War, Caruana routed data from the DSP satellite system to coalition forces.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering. In 1972 he received a master’s degree in mathematics from Texas A & M; University.

Jolie Gorchov