The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $9.8 billion multiyear contract to produce nearly 2,000 of the most advanced variant of the Patriot air and missile defense missile, the service announced in a Wednesday joint signing ceremony at Lockheed’s Grand Prairie, Texas, facility.
The contract marks the largest deal in the history of the company’s Missiles and Fire Control unit.
The agreement covers the fiscal years 2024 through 2026 and calls for the procurement of 1,970 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors and associated hardware for the U.S. and allies, according to the service’s statement.
“PAC-3 MSE’s recent combat performance solidified it as a must-have capability for America and its allies around the world,” Jason Reynolds, Lockheed’s vice president for Integrated Air and Missile Defense, said in a company statement. “With this contract, we’ll be delivering record numbers of PAC-3 MSE for years to come.”
The contract underscores Washington’s push to replenish missile stockpiles and strengthen supply chains as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East heighten the demand. The PAC-3 MSE, which uses hit-to-kill technology, is designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hypersonic threats and aircraft.
Seventeen partner nations, including the U.S., field PAC-3 missiles.
“The muti-year buy enables “the Army to procure a larger quantity of missiles for more rapid delivery, thus filling our inventory faster,” Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, who leads the Army’s Program Executive Office Missiles and Space, said in the service’s statement.
Lockheed said it plans to deliver more than 600 interceptors in 2025, ramping up production nearly two years ahead of the award thanks to internal investments.
The contract “reflects disciplined acquisition and responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources,” Joseph Giunta, the Army’s senior contracting official at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, said in the statement.
Lockheed Martin told Defense News earlier this summer it was working toward delivering 650 PAC-3 MSE missiles per year by 2027. It is currently producing roughly 550 each year.
The company is also looking at how it might possibly ramp up to 650 missiles a year earlier than planned, Reynolds told Defense News in July at the Association of the U.S. Army’s LandEuro conference in Wiesbaden, Germany.
“What we’re endeavoring to do in partnership with the U.S. government, is to pull that left as much as we can,” he said.
The company is also looking at “the efficiencies and streamlining and doing everything we can to stretch those dollars actually to take that to a higher capacity, upwards of around 750 per year by 2027,” Reynolds said.
The government has not yet officially released the number for a top production level, but “if you take that trajectory and you project it forward into the future years, you will see as well north of 1,000 and then even much higher after that,” he said.
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.