Naval News had the opportunity to catch up with Lockheed Martin at the Surface Navy Association’s 37th National Symposium in Crystal City, Virginia to discuss current updates to Lockheed Martin’s portfolio. Tom Copeman, vice president for strategy and naval solutions, and Chandra Marshall, vice president of multi-domain solutions and the manager of Lockheed Martin’s New Jersey sites, offered their time during the symposium to update Naval News on the latest for PAC-3 MSE and the future of the integration effort.
Both the Navy and Lockheed Martin are interested in expanding the available magazine of surface combatants and enhancing their lethality against advanced targets. PAC-3 MSE is a combat proven missile against advanced, maneuvering targets as seen in Ukraine, which would give the Navy additional capability over Raytheon’s terminal ballistic missile defense (BMD) missile family.
“[The current missiles] are good missiles, but this one’s a lot better against some of the more advanced threats, and it brings a capacity to the Navy that it doesn’t have right now.”
Tom Copeman, Vice President for Strategy and Naval Systems at Lockheed Martin
The additional capability would bring another mature production line to the U.S. Navy, a line that is producing 550 missiles per year with a contract to expand to 650 per year, according to Copeman. In comparison, Raytheon is currently producing between 125 and 130 SM-6 interceptors per year.
PAC-3 MSE is not capable of being multi-packed in a Mark 41 VLS cell like the quad packed RIM-162 ESSM, and the Navy has expressed no interest in making modifications to the PAC-3 to allow for multi-packing. According to Copeman, Lockheed Martin’s next-generation 34-inch diameter Growth VLS (G-VLS) could make multi-packing PAC-3s a reality.
“The Navy would like to multi pack missiles to save space. But the physicality of being able to do it [with PAC-3 MSE] would require modifications to the current missile. So there’s not an ongoing interest in that. Now [with] the Growth VLS, all bets are off, because that’s a big 34-inch diameter. It would definitely be a possibility.”
Tom Copeman, Vice President for Strategy and Naval Systems at Lockheed Martin
The 34-inch diameter for G-VLS has not been previously reported. A diameter that large would allow for the multi-packing of not only PAC-3 MSE but also Raytheon’s SM-2 missile for terminal ballistic missile defense.
As previously reported by Naval News, the PAC-3 MSE brings enhanced lethality to the U.S. Navy’s anti-air warfare platforms. Copeman highlighted the enhancements PAC-3 MSE could bring, including an expanded engagement envelope. PAC-3 MSE features a combat-proven capability against hypersonic missiles in Ukraine and would be improved even further being integrated with a more powerful radar and combat system.
“If you combine the Aegis combat system with the AN/SPY-1Ds, which are on most of the DDGs, and will be around for another 35 years, and [PAC-3 MSE]? They’re both better.”
Tom Copeman, Vice President for Strategy and Naval Systems at Lockheed Martin
That capability has has sparked enough interest in the U.S. Navy and Congress to the point that additional funding is being allocated, according to Chandra Marshall, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President for Multi-Domain Solutions and General Manager of Lockheed Martin’s New Jersey sites. The United States Senate Appropriations Committee for Defense (SACD) added $75 million to the effort in the FY2025 bill.
“Successful demonstrations have really sparked a lot of interest from the Navy to the point funding is being allocated. So now we’re just waiting to get that money from the Navy.”
Chandra Marshall, VP of Multi-Domain Solutions and GM of Lockheed Martin’s New Jersey sites
