Lockheed Martin has received a $33.9 million foreign military sales contract for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile-related support equipment for The Netherlands. A follow-on contract for PAC-3 Missiles is anticipated by the end of the year. This is the first international sale of PAC-3 Missile-related equipment.

The contract, awarded by the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command in Huntsville, AL, calls for Lockheed Martin to produce PAC-3 Missile Segment ground equipment, including Enhanced Launcher Electronics Systems (ELES) and Fire Solution Computers, for The Netherlands. This equipment will enable The Netherlands' existing Patriot ground equipment to accept the new PAC-3 Missiles.

"We're extremely pleased The Netherlands has moved forward with its purchase of the PAC-3 Missile system, and will soon be obtaining their first PAC-3 interceptors," said Steve Graham, vice president - PAC-3 Missile program for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "In those defining moments on the battlefield, the PAC-3 Missiles worked as designed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and we're confident in its ability to defeat the threats facing U.S. and allied forces today and in the future."

The 'hit-to-kill' PAC-3 Missile is the world's most advanced, capable and powerful theater air defense missile. It defeats the entire threat to the Patriot Air Defense System: tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs) carrying weapons of mass destruction, advanced cruise missiles and aircraft. PAC-3 Missiles significantly increase the Patriot system's firepower, since 16 PAC- 3s load-out on a Patriot launcher, compared with four of the older Patriot PAC-2 missiles.

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control is prime contractor on the PAC-3 Missile Segment upgrade to the Patriot air defense system. The PAC-3 Missile is a highly agile hit-to-kill interceptor. The rest of the Missile Segment is made up of the PAC-3 Missile canisters (in four packs), a Fire Solution Computer and an Enhanced Launcher Electronics System. These elements have been integrated into the Patriot system, a high to medium altitude, long-range air defense missile system providing air defense of ground combat forces and high-value assets.

The PAC-3 Missile has also been selected as the primary interceptor for the multi-national Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). Managed by the NATO MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA), MEADS is a model transatlantic development program focused on the next generation of air and missile defense.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin