US to triple production of Patriot interceptor missiles under new Defense Ministry contract

The US Department of Defense has signed a large-scale seven-year agreement with defense giant Lockheed Martin. The purpose of the contract is to triple the production of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems. This is reported in the official press release of the Pentagon..

According to the department, this agreement has become a practical implementation of the new strategy previously announced by the leadership of the Department of Defense.

"This seven-year framework agreement with Lockheed Martin is a direct outcome of the Department's new Acquisition Transformation Strategy, as unveiled by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in his Arsenal of Freedom speech at Fort McNair in November," the Pentagon said.

Scaling up to 2,000 missiles per year. The main focus of the agreement is on the production of the most advanced missile modification - PAC-3 MSE (Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement). The plan is to increase capacity from the current 600 units to about 2,000 interceptor missiles annually

Michael Duffey, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, emphasized that this approach fundamentally changes the principles of working with the defense sector. According to him, the framework agreement marks:

"This framework agreement marks a fundamental shift in how we rapidly expand munitions production and magazine depth, and how we collaborate with our industry partners."

Benefits for industry and the state. The ministry adds that the new format of cooperation takes into account the interests of all parties. Lockheed Martin receives long-term guarantees of demand for its products, which allows the company to confidently invest in expanding production lines.

"The agreement also aligns the interests of Lockheed Martin, the government, and taxpayers, with Lockheed Martin supporting investments to scale the required production increases, while benefitting from the certainty of long-term, growing demand for the PAC-3 MSE," the department summarized.

We remind you that the United States is unable to provide Ukraine with a sufficient number of missiles for the MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems, which are used to combat ballistic missiles of the army of the aggressor country russia.