U.S. Plans $58.6B Patriot Deal
PHOTO CAPTION: FILE PHOTO: A man looks at a Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) model by Lockheed Martin at an international military fair in Kielce, Poland September 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
WASHINGTON, July 29 — The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, the Pentagon said Wednesday, as the wars in Iran and Ukraine strain U.S. weapons stockpiles.
The United States has supplied large quantities of weapons to allies while also using munitions in its own operations in Iran, raising concerns about inventories of key air-defense and precision-guided weapons.
The new award converts a one-year, $4.7 billion deal issued in April into a seven-year draft agreement covering fiscal years 2026 through 2032, the Army said.
The multiyear procurement plan is intended to support production of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors, known as PAC-3 MSE.
Pentagon negotiators are pressing defense contractors to accelerate production. Tentative production agreements reached earlier this year are central to efforts to increase missile output.
President Donald Trump’s administration has also increased pressure on defense companies to prioritize production over payments to shareholders.
Trump signed an executive order in January directing officials to identify contractors considered to be underperforming on government contracts while continuing to distribute profits to shareholders.
Defense industry executives have welcomed longer-term production agreements but said Congress must first provide funding before companies can significantly expand component supplies and manufacturing capacity.
Exact terms and delivery schedules for many Pentagon munitions agreements remain under negotiation.
The Pentagon has also reached a similar framework agreement with RTX, Raytheon’s parent company, to increase Tomahawk cruise missile production.
That plan would raise annual U.S. production from about 60 missiles to an eventual 1,000.
Lockheed Martin said the Patriot agreement would allow it to follow through on a pledge to triple PAC-3 MSE production capacity by the end of 2030.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based company also plans to increase employment at its Camden, Arkansas, plant by 50%, from about 1,200 workers to roughly 1,850.
Lockheed previously said annual production of Patriot PAC-3 interceptors would rise to 2,000.
The company said it is investing between $8 billion and $9 billion through 2030 to modernize more than 20 U.S. facilities, including new munitions centers in Alabama and Arkansas.
The PAC-3 MSE is a hit-to-kill interceptor used by the Patriot air-defense system against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated this week that the U.S. military has fewer than 1,000 Patriot interceptors and fewer than 250 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors in its inventory.
Both systems have been used heavily in the Middle East.
(Source: Reuters)
