Lockheed awarded $680M for PAC-3 missiles for foreign militaries

March 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Defense Department this week awarded separate contracts to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for Patriot missile support for several ally nations.

Lockheed was awarded a $680 million deal for Foreign Military Sales for the Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept of Target Advanced Capability-3, or Patriot PAC-3 missiles, and Raytheon received $102.5 million for parts on domestic and Netherlands Patriot systems, the Defense Department announced Thursday.

Patriots are used to defend against incoming threats, including tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft. The PAC-3 missiles first were deployed during the Iraq conflict in 2003.

Lockheed's work is for incidental services, hardware, facilities and equipment, as well as all technical, planning, management, manufacturing, and testing efforts to produce the missile. That includes ground support equipment and initial spares.

The contract is for Republic of Korea, Poland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Germany and Netherlands, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2024.

Earlier this month, Lockheed was awarded a $25 million contract for Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Republic of Korea.

Lockheed, which is the prime contractor for the Patriot PAC-3, has manufactured more than 2,000 missiles for 13 foreign nations and the United States.

Raytheon was separately contracted to provide peripheral electronics assembly box modification kits and initial spares production for the Netherlands, with work expected to run through July 31, 2022. Raytheon's platform consists of radars, a command-and-control technology and multiple interceptor types.

Earlier this month, Raytheon was awarded a $19.5 million contract to provide support center, missile assessments, testing, recertification and repair activities for Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, Romania and Sweden.

Raytheon has built more than 220 Patriot fire units and delivered them to customers in 16 nations.