L3Harris gets $4.7 billion deal to help boost Patriot interceptor production

Lockheed Martin has awarded L3Harris Technologies a $4.7 billion undefinitized contract award to produce propulsion systems for the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor.

The contract will span seven years and marks L3Harris’ largest PAC-3 propulsion award to date, L3 announced last week. The work will support large-scale production of the interceptor’s advanced two-pulse solid rocket motor, attitude-control motors and a fragment explosive device known as a “lethality enhancer,” reads a Sept. 8 statement.

In January, Lockheed announced a seven-year framework agreement increasing yearly PAC-3 interceptor production from 600 to 2,000.

In June, L3Harris broke ground on two new facilities in Arkansas to support increased production capacity for the Army’s PAC-3 propulsion systems. Both manufacturing plants are expected to be operational by 2027.

The production boost comes as the war in Iran and Ukraine have driven up demand for the advanced air defense missiles. The Army already uses the interceptor missile in its Patriot air defense system and earlier this spring, the Navy announced its intent to integrate PAC-3 MSE into its Aegis Combat System for the first time.

The Army and Navy’s requests for PAC-3 MSE have grown 839%, from 341 in fiscal year 2026 to 3,203 in fiscal year 2027, according to an August report from the Washington think tank CSIS that examined the Defense Department’s fiscal year 2027 budget requests.

Still, experts warn that even plans for increased production cannot match the U.S. military’s current demand for PAC-3 MSE. The U.S. is also losing when it comes to the cost ratio between the PAC-3 MSE, valued around $4 million, and Iran’s Shahed drones, which cost $35,000 each.

洛克希德·马丁公司授予 L3Harris Technologies 公司一份价值 47 亿美元的未定合同，用于生产 PAC-3 导弹段增强型 (MSE) 拦截器的推进系统。

L3Harris上周宣布，这份为期七年的合同是该公司迄今为止获得的最大一笔PAC-3推进系统合同。9月8日的一份声明称，这项工作将支持拦截机先进双脉冲固体火箭发动机、姿态控制发动机以及一种被称为“杀伤力增强器”的碎片爆炸装置的大规模生产。

今年 1 月，洛克希德公司宣布了一项为期七年的框架协议，将 PAC-3 拦截器的年产量从 600 枚增加到 2000 枚。

今年6月，L3Harris公司在阿肯色州破土动工兴建两座新工厂，以提高陆军PAC-3推进系统的产能。这两座工厂预计都将于2027年投入运营。

此次增产正值伊朗和乌克兰战争推高了对先进防空导弹的需求之际。陆军已在其“爱国者”防空系统中使用该拦截导弹，而今年早春，海军也宣布计划首次将PAC-3 MSE导弹集成到其“宙斯盾”作战系统中。

根据华盛顿智库 CSIS 在 8 月份发布的一份报告，陆军和海军对 PAC-3 MSE 的需求增长了 839%，从 2026 财年的 341 台增加到 2027 财年的 3203 台。该报告审查了国防部 2027 财年的预算申请。

不过，专家警告说，即使增加产量，也无法满足美军目前对PAC-3 MSE的需求。此外，PAC-3 MSE的单价约为400万美元，而伊朗的“沙赫德”（Shahed）无人机单价仅为3.5万美元，两者的性价比都较低，美国在价格上也处于劣势。