Lockheed Martin said Thursday it would produce 112 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles under a $379 million contract from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command. The contract also includes launcher modification kits, program management and engineering, and spares and other necessary equipment.
The PAC-3 is a kinetic-energy-only air-defense missile that seeks out and destroys targets by colliding with them in mid-air. Over the past 12 years, LM said in a statement, the PAC-3 has achieved the most successful flight-test record of any U.S. missile-defense interceptor.
The PAC-3 is capable of defeating all current threats to the Patriot Air Defense System, the statement continued. Those potential threats include tactical ballistic missiles, evolving cruise missiles and fixed and rotary winged aircraft.
PAC-3 missiles also significantly increase a Patriot battery’s firepower, because 16 of the interceptors can be loaded onto a launcher, compared with four PAC-2 missiles.
The multi-national Medium Extended Air Defense System has selected the PAC-3 as its primary U.S. interceptor. MEADS is a model trans-Atlantic program for air and missile defense. MEADS will focus on risk reduction, application of key technologies, and validation of a system design incorporating the PAC-3 Missile as the primary interceptor.
Lockheed Martin will the contract components at its facilities in Dallas and Lufkin, Texas, and the PAC-3 All-Up Round facility in Camden, Ariz.
LM Missiles and Fire Control is the prime contractor on the PAC-3 upgrade, which comprises the missile, the missile’s canister – which holds four PAC-3s – a fire-solution computer and an enhanced launcher electronics system.
