Army awards $556 million to Lockheed Martin for PAC-3 missile program

According to Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin, the contracts include production of 148 hit-to-kill PAC-3 missiles, 17 launcher modification kits, spares and other equipment as well as program management and engineering services.

Production of all equipment will take place at Lockheed Martin manufacturing facilities in: Dallas and Lufkin, Texas; Chelmsford, Mass.; Ocala, Fla.; and the PAC-3 All-Up Round facility in Camden, Ark.

Deliveries on the contracts will be completed by July 2010, the company said.

“The PAC-3 missile offers combat-proven hit-to-kill lethality to protect the war fighter,” said Mike Trotsky, vice president, air and missile defense programs, at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “We continue to see interest in the PAC-3 Missile Segment around the world, and Lockheed Martin remains focused on producing this vital technology for our customers, both here and abroad.”

As part of the contracts, Lockheed Martin will be producing and delivering equipment to begin upgrading all U.S. Army Patriot fire units to the current Configuration-3 capability (two PAC-3 launchers per fire unit), allowing all fire units in the Patriot fleet to be capable of firing the PAC-3 missile. The Army launched the initiative—called “Pure Fleet”—in 2006 to provide consistency across the fleet for the user anywhere Patriot is deployed or trained.

“The PAC-3 missile will continue to provide theater-level defense of critical assets for years to come,” said Richard McDaniel, director of PAC-3 programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “PAC-3 provides our soldiers with lethality overmatch against the ever-advancing threat on today’s battlefield.”

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor on the PAC-3 Missile Segment upgrade to the Patriot air defense system. According to the company, the PAC-3 Missile Segment upgrade consists of: the PAC-3 missile, a hit-to-kill interceptor; the PAC-3 missile canisters (each of which hold four PAC-3 missiles, with four canisters per launcher); a fire solution computer; and an enhanced launcher electronics system.

According to Lockheed Martin, the PAC-3 missile currently is the world’s only fielded pure-kinetic-energy air defense missile.