The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $524 million modification Tuesday to a domestic and foreign military sales (FMS) contract for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile segment enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) missiles.

The modification covers PAC-3 missiles, cost reduction initiative (CRI) missiles, launcher modification kits, and associated ground support equipment for the U.S., Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Romania.

Launch of PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor. Photo: Lockheed Martin
Launch of PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor. Photo: Lockheed Martin

Work is expected to be finished by Jan. 31, 2021.

This modification adds to an earlier $944 million modification awarded last December for PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE production and delivery.

That previous award covered 54 U.S. MSE missiles, 24 Qatar MSEs, and 130 Saudi Arabia CRI missiles and ground support equipment (Defense Daily, Dec. 22).

The latest award comes after recent reports and independent analyses that Patriot systems based in Saudi Arabia have failed to intercept Burkan-2 missiles launched by Houthis rebels in Yemen. The Burkan-2 is a variant of the Scud ballistic missile.

Lockheed Martin said the hit-to-kill PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE missiles are the only in their class combat proven and can defeat a range on threats.

“PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE give our customers unmatched, combat-proven hit-to-kill technology to address growing and evolving threats,” Jay Pitman, vice president of PAC-3 programs at Lockheed Martin’s missiles and fire control business, said in a statement.

Separately, the Army awarded Raytheon [RTN] a nearly $18 million domestic and FMS modification to execute the Patriot Field Surveillance Program (FSP). This includes missile assessments, testing, recertification, and repair activities.

The FSP has Patriot partners randomly pick missiles from their inventory to verify they work correctly in an independent assessment.

The foreign customers include Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Work will occur in Andover, Mass., and is expected to be finished by January 2020.

The PAC-3 is operational in the U.S., Germany, Japan, Qatar, the Netherlands, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, UAE.