Lockheed Martin [LMT] Oct. 9 announced the delivery of the first PAC-3 Missiles to government and military representatives of the Netherlands recently in a ceremony held at its manufacturing facility in Camden, Ark.
The Netherlands became the “launch,” or first international customer, to buy the PAC-3 Missile in 2005, when it purchased missiles through a Foreign Military Sales contract with the U.S. government.
“Today, The Netherlands is proud to be the first international launch customer for the PAC-3 Missile, just as it is proud to have been an international launch customer of the Patriot weapon system,” Maj. Gen. Alexander Besselink, director of Weapon Systems and Agencies for The Netherlands Defence Materiel Organisation, said. “With the introduction of full PAC-3 capabilities, the Netherlands is prepared for the future and, together with the United States, continues to be at the forefront of air defense.”
The PAC-3 Missile is manufactured at Lockheed Martin’s award-winning facility in Camden.
“The delivery of PAC-3 Missiles to the Royal Netherlands Air Force not only marks the initial delivery to our first international customer, but also represents the initial deployment of the PAC-3 Missile to one of the United States’ strongest NATO allies,” Dennis Cavin, vice president of Air and Missile Defense Strategic Initiatives at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said. “This deployment will afford unprecedented capability growth against the latest tactical ballistic missile threats.”
All current Patriot weapon system-using nations are candidates to upgrade to the PAC-3 Missile. Countries that currently own Patriot systems include: Germany, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Saudi Arabia and Spain.
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the PAC-3 missile segment upgrade, while Raytheon [RTN] is the prime contractor for the Patriot Weapon System and system integrator for the PAC-3 program.
Lockheed Martin achieved the first-ever hit-to-kill intercept in 1984 with the Homing Overlay Experiment, which destroyed a mock warhead outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Further testing produced today’s PAC-3 Missile, which won a competition in 1993 to become the first hit-to-kill interceptor produced by the U.S. government.