The U.S. Department of Defense has not disclosed the number of PAC-3 interceptors ordered, but deliveries are expected to be completed by the end of June 2027. However, the U.S. Army said in a statement that the contract covers the production of 870 missiles. Lockheed Martin currently produces two variants of the PAC-3 interceptor: the PAC-3 Cost Reduction Initiative (CRI) and the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE).
Since February 24, 2022, Lockheed Martin has been increasing the production of PAC-3 interceptors to meet the growing global demand for the PATRIOT air and missile defense system. In 2018, the company had the capacity to produce 350 PAC-3 MSE missiles annually. By December 2023, Lockheed Martin announced it had achieved a capacity to produce 500 interceptors per year.
Lockheed Martin plans to further ramp up PAC-3 MSE production capacity to be capable of producing 650 missiles annually by 2027.
“The PAC-3 MSE is in high demand. It defends against incoming threats using hit-to-kill technology that delivers exponentially more kinetic energy on the target than can be achieved with blast-fragmentation. The PAC-3 MSE is capable of countering incoming threats including tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hypersonics, and aircraft,” U.S. Army said in statement.
