Qataris and Saudis gain PAC-3 flight test support
Saudi and allied officers pose in front of a Patriot missile battery at Prince Sultan Air Base in September 2020. (photo: USAF/Staff Sgt Cary Smith)
US Army Contracting Command has awarded sole bidder Lockheed Martin a $16.1 million FMS deal for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor flight test support in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Work should be completed by 13 February 2025, the DoD announced on 14 February.
The Financial Times newspaper in the UK reported last month that Saudi Arabia was in danger of running out of Patriot interceptors amid continuing missile and UAV attacks from rebel Houthi forces in Yemen.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia were among 14 FMS customers covered by a PAC-3 technical engineering services modification issued in February 2021 by the Lower Tier Project Office in the US Army Program Executive Office Missiles and Space.
PAC-3 is a long-range, medium- to high-altitude, all-weather air defence missile designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Defence Notes
-
US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule
The US government plans to accelerate production even further after achieving key B61-13 milestones months ahead of schedule, as the programme advances amid growing US-China strategic competition.
-
Canada’s C$2 billion ACSV deal reinforces new defence industrial strategy as allies align
General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada is the country’s first strategic partner under the Defence Industrial Strategy’s Strategic Partnership Framework, an effort to provide companies with confidence to invest and boost the defence labour force.
-
New UK armed forces minister frames High North defence as vital to “homeland security”
The UK’s Minister for the Armed Forces Louise Sandher-Jones made her first appearance in the role before the House of Commons Defence Committee this week to highlight efforts to improve capability in the High North.
-
Canada seeks to strengthen industrial ties with the US on classified programmes
Ottawa explores expanding defence-industrial cooperation with Washington into sensitive programmes, an approach that could reshape NORAD modernisation, strengthen North American supply chains and create new opportunities for defence contractors.