The US Missile Defense Agency has awarded Lockheed Martin a $2-billion contract to produce Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors.
Work will be performed in Dallas, Texas; Sunnyvale, California; Troy, Alabama; and Camden, Arkansas. It is expected to be completed by December 1, 2029.
This announcement comes after Washington expended about 25 percent of its THAAD interceptor stockpile during the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran in June this year, highlighting the need for replenishment to ensure readiness against potential future conflicts, according to a CNN report.
“Stockpiles are dropping. We need more. We need them faster than they are being built,” a former defense official familiar with the matter shared with the US news outlet.
Former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities under Joe Biden’s administration, Mara Karlin, echoed the same sentiment.
“Air defense is relevant in all of the major theaters right now. And there’s not enough systems. There’s not enough interceptors. There’s not enough production and there are not enough people working on it.”
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the THAAD is a mobile, ground-based missile defense system requiring nearly a hundred soldiers to operate six truck-mounted launchers, with each carrying eight missile interceptors for a total of 48 interceptors per battery.
An interceptor missile utilizes hit-to-kill technology to destroy short- to intermediate-range enemy ballistic missiles both inside and outside the atmosphere, with each one costing approximately $12 million.
In January, Lockheed delivered the 900th THAAD interceptor to Washington.
As a critical component of the US layered missile defense, the THAAD complements other missile defense systems, such as the Patriot.
It is also deployed in strategic locations outside the continental US, including South Korea for countering North Korean missile threats, Guam in the Western Pacific, and Middle Eastern countries of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
