The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] a $1.5 billion modification on March 11 for the joint Army-Navy program to develop a common rocket and hypersonic glide vehicle for both services, raising the total program value to $2.8 billion.
This specific modification is for the design, development, build and integration of equipment for missile flight test demonstrations and fielding. This modification award provides for the definitization of previous un-priced letter contract modifications.
Work will mostly occur in Denver (32 percent); Sunnyvale, Calif. (19 percent); Magna, Utah (13 percent); Pittsfield, Mass. (five percent); and various other locations in the U.S. The work is expected to be finished by February 2024.
No funds were obligated at the time of the award.
Previously, in early 2019 Lockheed Martin won a $846 million contract modification for the design, development, build and integration of equipment for the Navy Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) weapon system. That award fell under the same base contract as this latest mod (Defense Daily, Feb. 27, 2019).
In August 2019 Lockheed Martin was awarded a $406 million mod under the same base contract to design and build large diameter rocket motors and missile body components to support Army flight tests for the Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike Weapon program (Defense Daily, Aug. 6, 2019).
Overall, the Navy is developing the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) while the Army oversees production. The Navy plans to buy a common missile stack rocket booster to lift the glide body to the edge of space and, when combined with the C-HGB, they make up the all-up round set to be used by the Army and Navy from different launching platforms.
The Air Force plans to use the same C-HGB glide body but a different launch system.