Defence industry

Lockheed Martin has been chosen to build the U.S. Army’s new mid-range missile prototype, landing a nearly $340 million contract to take elements from Navy missiles to forge the new weapon, the service’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office announced Nov. 6. Through an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement, Lockheed will take the U.S. Navy’s Raytheon-built SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles to put together a Mid-Range Capability (MRC) prototype..

..that consists of launchers, missiles and a battery operations center, according to a RCCTO statement.

A variant of the Tomahawk missile was used in a land-based cruise missile capability test last year. The SM-6 is a long-range, anti-air missile, which has a surface mode.

This mid-range missile — that will be able to hit targets at distances beyond 500 kilometers — is expected to be fielded to an operational battery in fiscal 2023....MORE