US State Department clears $5B sale of Patriot missiles to Germany

The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of the latest variant of Patriot missiles to Germany in a deal that could be worth an estimated $5 billion, according to a Thursday Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification.

The possible Foreign Military Sale to Germany would involve 600 of the Lockheed Martin-manufactured Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, which includes 10 fly-to-buy missiles, according to the announcement.

The State Department notified Congress on Aug. 15, which decides whether to approve the deal.

Germany has invested heavily in its Patriot air and missile defense capabilities this year as it sends both Patriot batteries and interceptors to Ukraine to support the country’s years-long fight against Russia’s invasion .

In March, Germany ordered $1.2 billion worth of Raytheon-manufactured Patriot systems, and another $1.2 billion for system components in July. Combining both contracts, Raytheon, an RTX company, will deliver eight complete Patriot fire units.

Raytheon also received earlier this month, a $478 million contract from NATO to replenish the Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile, or GEM-T, that Germany had sent to Ukraine. The contract stems from a partnership between Ukraine, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany – countries who have agreed to finance the procurement of GEM-T missiles to replenish stockpiles. The multinational coalition jointly agreed to order up to 1,000 GEM-T missiles as part of a $5.5 billion production and delivery contract of the weapons from a joint venture between MBDA Germany and Raytheon.

Patriot’s dominance in Ukraine has attracted fresh attention and potential customers from around the world. Germany is a longtime user of Patriot. Patriot serves as the air defense for 19 countries, with 15 of those countries using PAC-3 MSE in its missile inventory.

Lockheed Martin was already fully funded to build 550 missiles per year in order to replenish the PAC-3 MSE missiles sent to Ukraine. The company had been building 350 missiles per year by 2018 and was already ramping that number up to 500 per year before war broke out in Ukraine.

The company is also invested internally to ramp up 650 PAC-3 MSE missiles annually by 2027 at its Camden, Arkansas, production facility.

Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

据美国国防安全合作局周四发布的一份通知显示，美国国务院已批准向德国出售最新款“爱国者”导弹，该交易价值估计达50亿美元。

根据公告，此次可能向德国出售的600枚洛克希德·马丁公司制造的“爱国者”先进能力-3（PAC-3）导弹段增强型（MSE）导弹将包括10枚“先试后买”导弹。

美国国务院于8月15日通知国会，由国会决定是否批准该协议。

今年，德国对其“爱国者”防空导弹系统进行了大量投资，向乌克兰派遣了“爱国者”导弹防御系统和拦截器，以支持该国多年来对抗俄罗斯入侵的斗争。

今年3月，德国订购了价值12亿美元的雷神公司制造的“爱国者”导弹系统，7月又追加了价值12亿美元的系统组件订单。这两份合同合计，雷神公司（RTX旗下公司）将交付8套完整的“爱国者”导弹防御系统。

本月初，雷神公司还从北约获得了一份价值4.78亿美元的合同，用于补充德国此前向乌克兰交付的“爱国者”增强型导弹（GEM-T）。这份合同源于乌克兰、丹麦、荷兰、挪威和德国之间的合作——这些国家同意共同出资采购GEM-T导弹以补充库存。作为一项价值55亿美元的武器生产和交付合同的一部分，这个多国联盟共同订购了至多1000枚GEM-T导弹，该合同由德国MBDA公司和雷神公司组成的合资企业负责。

爱国者导弹系统在乌克兰的卓越表现吸引了来自世界各地的关注和潜在客户。德国是爱国者导弹系统的长期用户。爱国者导弹系统为19个国家提供防空保障，其中15个国家在其导弹库中装备了PAC-3 MSE型导弹。

洛克希德·马丁公司当时已获得充足的资金，每年可生产550枚导弹，以补充运往乌克兰的PAC-3 MSE导弹。该公司在2018年之前每年已生产350枚导弹，并在乌克兰战争爆发前正逐步将产量提高到每年500枚。

该公司还进行了内部投资，计划到 2027 年将其位于阿肯色州卡姆登的生产设施的 PAC-3 MSE 导弹年产量提高到 650 枚。

珍·贾德森是一位屡获殊荣的记者，为《防务新闻》报道陆地战争。她也曾为《政治报》和《内幕防务》工作。她拥有波士顿大学新闻学硕士学位和凯尼恩学院文学学士学位。