With the purchase of almost 2,000 PAC-3 MSE missiles, the US Army clearly aims to have a robust air defense umbrella wherever it might be required to operate in the future.
The US Army just awarded Lockheed Martin nearly $10 billion for air defense missiles.
In one of the largest missile contracts in recent history, Lockheed Martin received a $9.8 billion contract to produce almost 2,000 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) missiles.
America Is Rebuilding Its Patriot Missile Stockpiles
The US Army will boost its MIM-104 Patriot missile stocks by procuring 1,970 PAC-3 MSE munitions over several years.
The contract follows recent reports of rapidly depleting inventory in the US Patriot missile stockpile. Although the Pentagon has denied that claim, it does not usually release information about the quantity of munitions it possesses.
The US military has bought more than 1,100 MIM-104 Patriots since the early 1980s.
“PAC-3 MSE’s recent combat performance solidified it as a must-have capability for America and its allies around the world,” Jason Reynolds, vice president and general manager of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Lockheed Martin, said in a company press release.
The MSE version of the PAC-3 uses hit-to-kill technology to shoot down incoming munitions. Essentially, the PAC-3 MSE collides with enemy ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, unmanned aerial drones, and hypersonic munitions.
“PAC-3 MSE defends against incoming threats through direct body-to-body contact delivering exponentially more kinetic energy on the target than can be achieved with blast fragmentation mechanisms,” Lockheed Martin states about the hit-to-kill technology behind the PAC-3 MSE.
The MIM-104 Patriot air defense system is quite popular around the world, with the US military and 16 international allies and partners operating the PAC-3 version.
“With this contract, we’ll be delivering record numbers of PAC-3 MSE for years to come, ensuring our customers have the advanced missile defense solutions they need to defend what matters most,” the Lockheed Martin executive added.
Lockheed Martin wants to deliver over 600 PAC-3 missiles this year, following a spike in global demand during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The contract was the largest in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control unit history.
“[The contract] demonstrates the continued demand for and trust in this advanced, precise and proven interceptor,” the company stated.
The Patriot Missile Has Protected Ukraine’s Sky for Three Years
The fighting in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of air defense in modern conflict. Partly because of the Ukrainian military’s strong air defense umbrella, which incorporates a layered defense that can deal with a wide range of Russian threats, including ballistic missiles, hypersonic munitions, cruise missiles, aircraft, and unmanned aerial systems.
To be sure, the Ukrainian air defenses are not perfect. Despite the incorporation of some of the most advanced air defense systems in the world, including the Patriot, the IRIS-T, and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), Russian missiles and suicide drones periodically penetrate the Ukrainian air defenses and cause significant damage and loss of life. But air defenses do prevent much more destruction than they allow. The goal of air defense is to restrict an adversary’s air operations by denying the airspace over the battlefield and intercepting as many incoming munitions as possible.
With the purchase of almost 2,000 PAC-3 MSE missiles, the US Army clearly aims to have a robust air defense umbrella wherever it might be required to operate in the future.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
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