Swedish officials on Friday formally announced they agreed to buy the Raytheon [RTN] Patriot air and missile defense system from the U.S. Army in a signed Letter of Offer and Acceptance.
This agreement comes on the heels of an announcement last week by the Swedish Defense Ministry that the government was empowering the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) to procure and enter into an agreement with the U.S. to get two Patriot batteries (Defense Daily, Aug. 2).
Photo: Raytheon.
The Swedish government first authorized the FMV to send a letter of request to the U.S. and begin negotiations to acquire the system last November. Once negotiations concluded, the agency received an offer to acquire Patriot in April.
It is unknown how much this order will cost but in February the State Department first approved a possible $3.2 billion Foreign Military Sale (FMS) for four Patriot Confoguration-3+ Modernized Fire Units (Defense Daily, Aug. 2).
Lockheed Martin [LMT] highlighted this agreement will have Sweden buy its Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, the most advanced version. This will make Sweden the sixth international customer to agree to procure PAC-3 MSEs after Japan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“We’re honored to partner with Sweden on their efforts to protect and defend their armed forces, citizens and infrastructure. Today’s global security environment demands reliable Hit-to-Kill technology and innovative solutions. PAC-3 MSE interceptors will provide Sweden with a formidable layer of defense,” Jay Pitman, vice president of PAC-3 at Lockheed Martin’s missiles and fire control business unit, said in a statement.
The PAC-3 MSE features a dual-pulse solid rocket motor, upgrading the missile’s altitude and range.
Wes Kremer, President of Raytheon’s integrated defense systems, added that “Patriot in Sweden will enhance Northern European security and further strengthen the Trans-Atlantic partnership by providing a common approach to Integrated Air and Missile Defense.”
Fifteen other countries use the Raytheon Patriot system for defense and the company called Patriot the “backbone of Europe’s defense” against cruise and ballistic missiles, advanced aircraft, and drones.
Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Spain currently use the Patriot system while Romania and Poland signed Letters of Acceptance for the system within the past year, setting up Sweden to be the sixth European user of Patriot (Defense Daily, Nov. 29, 2017 and March 28, 2018).