Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $142.6 million contract to extend sustainment support for two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries operated by the United Arab Emirates.
Issued under an existing Foreign Military Sales (FMS) case, the latest award brings the total program value to $876.7 million. The agreement encompasses a broad range of services, including logistics support, training, missile and ground system sustainment, hardware and software development, engineering services, and surveillance activities.
Contract execution will take place primarily in the UAE, with additional work conducted at Lockheed Martin facilities in California, Texas, Arkansas, and Alabama. The sustainment effort is scheduled to continue through August 2028, with key milestones aligned with the US Missile Defense Agency.
THAAD is a mobile missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their terminal phase or upon atmospheric re-entry. Developed in the late 1990s, the system employs hit-to-kill kinetic interceptors rather than explosive warheads.
Each interceptor is approximately 20 feet long, weighs about 2,000 pounds, and is capable of engaging targets at ranges of up to 120 miles, with an operational altitude of roughly 93 miles. The interceptor reaches speeds of approximately Mach 8.2.
In December 2025, the UAE marked a decade since fielding the THAAD system, which also represented the platform’s first export sale by the United States. Earlier in 2025, the US Missile Defense Agency awarded Lockheed Martin a separate $2 billion contract to manufacture additional THAAD interceptors for the UAE.
