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The United States has awarded Lockheed Martin with a $35 billion contract for the accelerated production of missile interceptors.
The seven-year procurement award will enable the weapons manufacturer to significantly boost the manufacturing and development of their Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile interceptors.
THAAD is currently the only market system that can interrupt missile threats from both inside and outside of the atmosphere and has previously been used in the US’ 2026 strikes on Iran, known as Operation Epic Fury.
“This award reflects our shared vision with the Department of War to strengthen America’s Arsenal of Freedom through a transformational shift to multi-year procurement," said Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control sector.
“This new approach propels our efforts to strengthen the defence industrial base, expand production and deliver capabilities to the American warfighter at unprecedented speed and scale.”
The announcement of the award follows a framework agreement signed by Lockheed Martin and the Department of War (DOW) in January this year that established the long-term goals to strengthen the US’ position in delivering important missile defence capabilities for domestic and allied needs.
This framework, governed by the DOW’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy, has also seen expanded production capacity for the PAC-3 MSE and Precision Strike Missile.
The multibillion-dollar contract comes as the company began work on their new Munitions Production Centre is Alabama, which is part of a $9 billion plan to accelerate industrial defence capabilities.
Lockheed Martin said awards like these are valuable in expanding domestic employment opportunities and in ensuring that “America and its allies have the proven capabilities needed to protect people, infrastructure and freedom around the globe”.
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