Lockheed Martin has received a contract to adapt the Patriot missile interceptor for use aboard U.S. Navy vessels, the company said on Tuesday, marking the first arrangement to deploy the Army's Patriot interceptor at sea. The integration will pair the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement - PAC-3 MSE - with the Navy's Aegis combat system.
The decision to move ahead with shipboard Patriot interceptors follows planning the Navy initiated in 2024 to arm surface ships with PAC-3 MSE, a development shaped by concerns that adversaries could introduce hypersonic weapons capable of targeting ships in the Pacific. Placing PAC-3 MSE on Aegis-equipped vessels is intended to bolster the missile defense envelope that protects the fleet of destroyers.
Lockheed Martin has been pursuing this cross-service integration for several years, and the new contract represents the first concrete step toward fielding the Army interceptor on Navy surface ships. The PAC-3 MSE is noted for greater agility relative to current Navy interceptors and for employing a hit-to-kill mechanism in which the interceptor strikes a target directly rather than detonating nearby. That engagement concept enhances lethality against high-speed, maneuvering ballistic threats.
Currently, Aegis warships rely primarily on interceptors from the Standard Missile family - including SM-2, SM-3, and SM-6 - as well as the RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile. The PAC-3 MSE is expected to provide an additional defensive layer complementing those existing capabilities.
Demand for the Patriot interceptor has increased in recent months. Under a January agreement between Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon, production of the PAC-3 MSE is scheduled to expand significantly over the next seven years, rising from roughly 600 missiles per year to more than 2,000 per year. The production ramp is intended to meet heightened demand for the weapon system.
This contract and the planned production expansion represent synchronized steps to move the PAC-3 MSE from an Army land-based role into a naval context, creating a new layer in the United States' layered missile defense architecture for surface combatants.