Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract modification worth $211.7 million by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to provide maintenance and sustainment services for two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries located in the United Arab Emirates. This contract was announced by the Department of Defense, which noted that the requirement was solicited exclusively from Lockheed Martin Space due to its unique capabilities.

The contracting activity is based in Huntsville, Alabama, where the MDA operates. Under the terms of the contract, Lockheed Martin will handle several responsibilities, including logistics management, hardware and software development and sustainment, missile and ground repair and return, engineering, and training. This initiative is intended to support the government of the UAE, which is a foreign military sales customer.

This contract modification builds upon a previously awarded contract to Lockheed Martin Space in 2021, increasing the total cost of the THAAD maintenance and repair project from $517.8 million to $729.6 million. The work will take place at multiple locations within the United States, particularly in Sunnyvale, California, where Lockheed Martin Space has a development and manufacturing facility. The anticipated period for completing the work is two years, concluding on October 31, 2027.

In a related development, in 2022, the U.S. Department of State approved the UAE government’s request to purchase 96 THAAD missile rounds along with four launch control and tactical operations terminals for a total of $2.2 billion.

THAAD, developed by Lockheed Martin, is a combat-proven defense system designed to intercept short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats. Recently, Lockheed Martin secured a follow-on contract valued at $2.8 billion from the MDA to further develop THAAD, which includes initial fielding, cybersecurity engineering, obsolescence surveillance and mitigation, logistics support, and training services.