Lockheed Martin gets $59 billion to triple Patriot missile output by 2030. The Pentagon deal extends a $4.7 billion contract as the Iran war drained stockpiles. Lockheed will hire 650 workers at its Arkansas plant.
The Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $59 billion contract to triple production of Patriot missiles over seven years, the latest move to restock a munitions inventory drained by the Iran war.
The deal extends a $4.7 billion award from April with a new $53.86 billion modification that covers the full duration of the contract. Lockheed will ramp output from roughly 600 missiles a year to about 2,000 by 2030, the Pentagon said. Each Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor costs around $4 million and has been critical as Iran retaliated against US and Israeli strikes with thousands of missile and drone attacks across the Middle East.
Lockheed plans to hire 650 more workers at its Camden, Arkansas, production line, building a Patriot-focused workforce of 1,850 employees, the company said in a statement.
The contract is Lockheed's second major multi-year missile deal this year. Earlier, the Pentagon awarded a contract worth up to $35 billion to quadruple production of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors over seven years.
Both the PAC-3 MSE and THAAD contracts stem from the Trump administration's push to mobilize the defense industrial base. President Donald Trump made munitions capacity a White House priority as military planners scrambled to replace thousands of missiles and interceptors used in the Iran war. Last month, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to remove obstacles and coordinate contractors, the Pentagon said.
The Pentagon has also looked beyond traditional defense contractors. Automakers, including General Motors Co., are being asked to lend manufacturing expertise to missile production. Lockheed recently agreed to explore ways GM could support weapons production.
Component suppliers are mobilizing too. L3Harris Technologies Inc. this week said it would accelerate production of solid rocket motors for both the PAC-3 MSE and THAAD missiles.
AlphaScala's proprietary scoring gives Lockheed Martin a Moderate 59 out of 100, reflecting its central role in the defense buildout. The stock page is here.
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