Airmen of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), supported by Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army Lower Tier Project Office, successfully conducted the second international PAC-3 Missile flight test today at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The test successfully fired a PAC-3 Missile from a German PATRIOT fire unit with Configuration-3 upgrades.

The test demonstrated the Patriot Configuration-3 upgrades to the German PATRIOT ground system, which includes the PAC-3 Missile Segment launcher electronics and the Fire Solution Computer that are necessary to launch PAC-3 Missiles. This was the first time a German PATRIOT launcher had executed a PAC-3 Missile launch.

"Today's successful flight test marks another significant milestone for both the Program Executive Office Missiles and Space and our allies," said Lt. Col. Anthony Brown, PAC-3 Product Manager. "We continue to build on the legacy of this superb weapon system as a key element for the free world's defense."

"Our German partners have taken an important step in improving their air and missile defense capability with the Patriot PAC-3 System," said Mike Trotsky, vice president Air & Missile Defense Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "We are very proud to support our German allies in this the second international PAC-3 Missile test."

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, is prime contractor on the PAC-3 Missile Segment upgrade to the Patriot air defense system. The PAC-3 Missile Segment upgrade consists of the highly agile PAC-3 Missile interceptor, the PAC-3 Missile canister which contains four missiles in the same footprint as one Patriot legacy missile, the Fire Solution Computer that provides engageability solutions and the Enhanced Launcher Electronics System (ELES), which interfaces with the entire family of PATRIOT missiles. These elements have been integrated into the German 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 is the world's most advanced, capable and lethal theater air defense missile. It is designed to counter the evolving Patriot Air Defense System threat spectrum: tactical ballistic missiles, evolving cruise missiles and fixed and rotary winged aircraft. PAC-3 Missiles significantly increase the Patriot systems firepower, since 16 PAC-3s load out on a Patriot launcher, compared with four legacy Patriot missiles.

Lockheed Martin achieved the first-ever hit-to-kill intercept in 1984 with the Homing Overlay Experiment, using force of impact alone to destroy a mock warhead outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Further development and testing produced todays PAC-3 Missile. The PAC-3 Missile has been a technology pathfinder for today's total conversion to kinetic energy interceptors for all modern missile defense systems.

Lockheed Martin is a world leader in systems integration and the development of air and missile defense systems and technologies, including the first operational hit-to-kill missile. It also has considerable experience in missile design and production, infrared seekers, command and control/battle management, and communications, precision pointing and tracking optics, as well as radar and signal processing. The company makes significant contributions to major U.S. missile defense systems and participates in several global missile defense partnerships.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin; U.S. Army