Boeing [BA] won a $1.1 billion contract to produce another 1,500 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile seekers by the program’s prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT], Boeing announced Monday.
Boeing said the new contract, awarded last week, extends seeker production starting in 2023 and lasting through 2026, which will occur at its facility in Huntsville, Ala. It is a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin to help make the PAC-3.
The company noted the seeker provides guidance data to the PAC-3 system, which is used to target various aircraft, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles.
“Our battle-tested, precision seeker is the product of decades of world-class engineering, research and development. Of course, none of this would be possible without the dedication and hard work of our entire PAC-3 team,” Robert Green, director of Boeing Integrated Air and Missile Defense, said in a statement.
Previously, last January Boeing announced it received $974 million in various subcontracts from September to November 2020 that involved continued and expanded production contracts to grow the PAC-3 seeker production line and fund upgrade development (Defense Daily, Jan. 15).
Boeing spokesman Joshua Roth confirmed to Defense Daily this latest award is a single production contract rather than the previously bundled amount.
He said this contract does not include any further updates to the system and “extends production into the future to support growing demand.”
Previously, Boeing completed contraction of a 28,000 square foot expansion in Huntsville to help accommodate the seeker growth.
While Boeing never revealed how many seekers were covered under the last round of contracts, it now says it has produced over 4,300 PAC-3 seekers since 2000. In contrast, at the time of the January announcement, Boeing said it had produced over 4,000 seekers.
Roth would not provide specifics on the production rate, but noted the company recently broke ground on a 9,000 square foot expansion of its Huntsville Electronics Center of Excellence as part of a long-term strategy to support growing air and missile defense demands.