US awards Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $58.6 billion for Patriot interceptor missiles

The US Defense Department said on Wednesday, 29 July 2026 (7 Mordad 1405), that it had awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. According to Reuters, the Pentagon attributed the move to the strain the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine have placed on US weapons stockpiles; Washington has both supplied large quantities of arms to allies and expended munitions in its own military operations in Iran.

The award converts a one-year deal worth $4.7 billion signed in April 2026 into a seven-year draft agreement, creating a multiyear procurement plan for the interceptors covering fiscal 2026 through 2032. Lockheed Martin said the funding would let it triple PAC-3 MSE interceptor production capacity by the end of 2030 and raise employment at its Camden, Arkansas plant by 50 percent, from 1,200 to about 1,850. The company had previously said annual Patriot interceptor output would reach 2,000 units.

A similar framework deal has been struck with RTX, Raytheon's parent company, to lift Tomahawk cruise missile production from about 60 units a year to 1,000 units a year. Exact terms and delivery dates for many of these munitions contracts are still under negotiation.