The U.S. Navy on Feb. 15 awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] a nearly $1.2 billion contract for hypersonic, boost-glide phase Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) missiles on Zumwalt-class destroyers.
DoD said that the contract could be worth $2.2 billion, if the Navy exercises options.
Steve Layne, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of hypersonic strike weapon systems, said in a company statement on Feb. 17 that “early design work is already underway.”
Under the contract, Lockheed Martin said that it is to provide “launcher systems, weapon control, All Up Rounds (AURs), which are the integrated missile components, and platform integration support” for the destroyers.
Lockheed Martin and subcontractors Northrop Grumman [NOC] and General Dynamics‘ [GD] mission systems unit are “on track to provide the CPS surface-launched, sea-based hypersonic strike capability to sailors by the mid-2020s,” Lockheed Martin said. “The contract also provides for additional AURs plus canisters for the U.S. Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) testing, training and tactical employment.”
CPS shares a common AUR with the LRHW and “can be launched from multiple platforms including surface ships, submarines, and land-based mobile launchers,” Lockheed Martin said.