Zdzislaw Starostecki, a leading designer of the Patriot missile, has died in Florida.

Starostecki, 91, died in Sarasota on New Year's Eve, his son said.

Mr Starostecki fought for his native country Poland during the Second World War and moved to the US in 1952.

After earning an engineering degree in 1960, he went to work for the US Army as a weapons designer in New Jersey.

In the early 1980s he led a group designing the radar and warheads for the Patriot missile defence system.

The surface-to-air missiles were first used during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The system has since been sold to American allies around the world.

Poland's president and parliament granted Mr Starostecki the honorary rank of general in December 2009.