Lockheed claims PAC-3 MSE Sweden delivery

Lockheed Martin last month delivered some portion of Sweden's order for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Enhancement Segment interceptors, the company said today, claiming the Nordic nation is now the 10th foreign customer armed with the most advanced variant of the U.S.-made air- and missile-defense guided missile.

The company declined to provide any further details -- including how many interceptors it delivered and even who the other nations are, despite a press release touting 11 nations now equipped with PAC-3 MSEs.

The PAC-3 MSE delivery is part of a larger Patriot modernization initiative by Stockholm. In February 2018 the Pentagon revealed the deal was made up of a $3.2 billion effort that included new antenna radar sets, launching stations as well as a total of 300 interceptors: 200 PAC-3 MSEs and 100 Guidance Enhanced Missile-TBM (GEM-T) interceptor variants, built by Raytheon.

On April 30, 2020, the Army awarded Lockheed a $6 billion, firm-fixed-price contract for incidental services, hardware, facilities, equipment and all technical, planning, management, manufacturing and testing efforts to produce PAC-3 MSE interceptors, associated ground support equipment and spares.

That contract included 954 PAC-3 MSE missiles to fulfill existing foreign military sales partner agreements and had option pricing to support 2021 to 2023 requirements and future foreign purchases, according to Lori Bradley, the Lower Tier Project Office's acquisition management division's chief in the Army’s program executive office for missiles and space.