WASHINGTON — Boeing secured multiyear contracts worth about $2.7 billion to produce more than 3,000 Patriot Advanced Capability‑3 seekers, the company announced Tuesday.
The seekers, which are sensors that detect and direct missiles to targets, help defeat hypersonic threats, hostile aircraft and ballistic and cruise missiles. Boeing will deliver up to 750 seekers a year through 2030 from its Huntsville facilities.
“Our team has never been better positioned to answer the nation’s call for greater air and missile defense,” Jim Bryan, executive director of Boeing Integrated Air & Missile Defense, said in a statement. “These multiyear awards recognize the progress we’ve made and will allow us to meet growing global demand for the PAC‑3 seeker.”
Boeing will work with Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army to boost the production of the PAC-3 interceptor, which has been in high demand for use in countering threats in conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.
By the end of the year, the aerospace company plans to have produced a record 650 to 700 seekers, setting a new monthly and 12-month rolling average production record, according to a press release.
Since 2000, Boeing has produced and delivered more than 6,000 PAC-3 seekers to the Army from Huntsville as a subcontractor of Lockheed Martin.
Boeing’s increased production capacity has been driven by the completion of a new 35,000-square-foot factory, modernization of production lines and strengthening supplier partnerships, the company said.
Seventeen countries, including the United States, depend on PAC-3 interceptors to protect citizens and critical infrastructure.
Boeing employs more than 3,000 people in Huntsville.