Lockheed Martin on Monday announced a new PAC-3 interceptor that it said costs less than half the price of a regular Patriot missile. The PAC-3 Adaptive Capability Effector, or ACE, is “built to defeat a broad range of air and missile threats for less than half the cost of a PAC-3 MSE per unit,” the
Lockheed Martin on Monday announced a new PAC-3 interceptor that it said costs less than half the price of a regular Patriot missile.
The PAC-3 Adaptive Capability Effector, or ACE, is “built to defeat a broad range of air and missile threats for less than half the cost of a PAC-3 MSE per unit,” the defense giant said in a statement.
Described as a “low-cost interceptor,” the PAC-3 ACE is designed to operate entirely with the Patriot missile weapons system and is designed to counter high-end threats such as ballistic, cruise and air-breathing missiles.
Lockheed Martin did not disclose the cost of the PAC-3 ACE, but the regular PAC-3 missile is priced at around $4.2 million per missile.
Lockheed Martin says the PAC-3 ACE is a new “low-cost interceptor” for the Patriot missile system. Lockheed Martin
Global demand for these missiles has soared as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have depleted the air defense munitions reserves of the United States and its allies.
Ukraine, which has been receiving shipments of Patriot interceptors from the West, has repeatedly said this year that its batteries are unable to cope with the magnitude of the onslaught of missile threats from Russia. Meanwhile, Iranian drones and missiles have depleted about a third of the Patriot stockpile, as the United States and the Gulf States launched more than 1,100 of these interceptors during the conflict.
The rate of spending so far has raised concerns about whether the United States will be able to sustain its Patriot stockpile in a protracted campaign or a war between peers.
Lockheed Martin produces about 600 MPE PAC-3s annually, although it plans to continue rapidly increasing production.
On Monday he emphasized the pace and quantity of production, saying the new PAC-3 ACE “accelerates development, testing and deployment far beyond traditional programs.”
The company said it was collaborating with the European defense industry to produce the PAC-3 ACE, an agreement that already exists for the PAC-3 MSE. Some components of that missile are built in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and other NATO countries on the continent.
The older PAC-2 missile is built by Raytheon, which produces about 200 interceptors a year. It plans to partner with German company MBDA to increase production to about 600 missiles a year at a new Bavarian plant.