United States Army has ordered the new PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defense system 2903145

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Defence & Security Industry News - Lockheed Martin
 
 
Saturday, March 29, 2014 05:11 PM
 
United States Army has ordered the new PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defense system.
Lockheed Martin Corp has won a U.S. Army contract worth $611 million to build 92 Patriot PAC-3 missiles and 50 launcher modification kits, the company's first production contract for a new enhanced missile designed to upgrade the Patriot missile defense system.
     
Lockheed Martin Corp has won a U.S. Army contract worth $611 million to build 92 Patriot PAC-3 missiles and 50 launcher modification kits, the company's first production contract for a new enhanced missile designed to upgrade the Patriot missile defense system.
Scale model Patriot PAC-3 missile scale 1:2
     

The Pentagon announced the contract modification late Friday, and said a total of $874 million, including funding from fiscal 2013 and 2014, was now available for Lockheed's work on the new missiles through May 31, 2016.

Lockheed's Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) adds a larger, more powerful motor to extend the missile's reach by 50 percent, and larger fins and other structural modifications to help the weapon intercept faster and more sophisticated ballistic and cruise missiles.

Lockheed said the missile enhancements could be applied to every Patriot PAC-3 system now in use around the world.

Lockheed Martin is producing the combat-proven Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile under production contracts from the U.S. Army Air and Missile Defense Program Executive Office and multiple international customers.

The PAC-3 Missile is a high velocity interceptor that defeats incoming targets by direct, body-to-body impact. PAC-3 Missiles, when deployed in a Patriot battery, significantly increase the Patriot system’s firepower, since 16 PAC-3s load-out on a Patriot launcher, compared with four Patriot PAC-2 missiles. One hundred percent effective in Operation Iraqi Freedom, PAC-3 Missiles are now deployed with U.S. forces.

The PAC-3 Missile uses a solid propellant rocket motor, aerodynamic controls, attitude control motors (ACMs) and inertial guidance to navigate. The missile flies to an intercept point specified prior to launch by its ground-based fire solution computer, which is embedded in the engagement control station. Target trajectory data can be updated during missile flyout by means of a radio frequency uplink/downlink.