Lockheed Martin [LMT] yesterday said it received a production contract totaling $3.9 billion to produce elements of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapons System for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The contract includes the manufacture and delivery of a maximum of 110 interceptors for the U.S. Army, including the fiscal 2014 option. These Lot 4, 5 and 6 interceptors will be fielded to the Army at Ft. Bliss, Texas.
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| THAAD Photo: Lockheed Martin |
The contract also includes interceptors and other ground hardware for the UAE. This completes the estimated $1.1 billion Foreign Military Sale to the UAE of THAAD missiles, launchers, associated parts, equipment and support (Defense Daily, Nov. 7).
“Lockheed Martin is focused on delivering these key components of the THAAD Weapon System to our customers,” said Mathew Joyce, vice president and program manager for THAAD at Lockheed Martin. “We continue to see strong interest from around the globe for the unique capabilities THAAD can provide.”
A THAAD battery was deployed for the first time internationally by the U.S. Army to Guam earlier this year.
Lockheed Martin is currently under contract for five THAAD batteries for the U.S. Army. Deliveries on Batteries 3 and 4 are underway, with final completion expected in December 2013. Battery 5 was awarded in late 2012.
THAAD interceptors are produced at Lockheed Martin’s Pike County facility in Troy, Ala. The launchers and fire control units are produced at the company’s Camden, Ark., facility.
Since 2005, the THAAD development program has completed 13 flight tests, with 11 successful intercepts in 11 attempts. THAAD is the only missile defense system with the operational flexibility to intercept in both the endo- and exo-atmospheres to provide versatile capability to the warfighter.
A key element of the nation’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), MDA is developing the BMDS to defend the United States, its deployed forces, friends and allies against ballistic missiles of all ranges and in all phases of flight.