{"id":11943,"date":"2026-07-20T22:20:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=11943"},"modified":"2026-07-20T22:20:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:20:23","slug":"lockheed-to-make-cheaper-patriot-interceptors-as-air-defense-demand-soars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=11943","title":{"rendered":"Lockheed to make cheaper Patriot interceptors as air defense demand soars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->By Joe Brock<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->FARNBOROUGH, England, July 20 (Reuters) &#8211; Lockheed Martin announced a lower-cost Patriot interceptor on Monday as U.S. and European governments seek more affordable ways to counter the mass \u200cmissile and drone attacks that have become a defining feature of the wars in Ukraine \u200cand the Middle East.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Lockheed said its new PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector, or ACE, missile would cost less than half as much \u200bas its PAC-3 MSE interceptors, which cost roughly $4 million per missile, according to U.S. Army budget documents.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The company said initial production could start in 2028, having earlier said it would take 36 months, adding that it plans to develop and manufacture the weapon with U.S. and European industry partners.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->To reduce costs, Lockheed will &#8220;throttle back&#8221; \u200csome of the most expensive components, \u2060including solid rocket motors, which provide propulsion, and seekers, the sensors that detect and track incoming targets, Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, \u2060told reporters at Britain&#8217;s Farnborough Airshow.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The ACE missile would bridge the gap between low-cost drone interceptors and the PAC-3 MSE, the Patriot system&#8217;s premier interceptor, which uses sophisticated hit-to-kill technology to destroy incoming threats through direct impact \u200brather \u200bthan relying on a traditional explosive warhead.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->&#8220;What ACE is \u200bdesigned to do is go after air-breathing \u200ctargets, so aircraft and cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, kind of intermediate ballistic missiles,&#8221; Cahill said.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->&#8220;This missile isn&#8217;t designed to go after drones,&#8221; he added.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The location of the announcement underscores efforts by U.S. defense companies to tap a European rearmament boom fueled by Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine, even as European governments seek to reduce dependence on American suppliers and expand local defense manufacturing.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->&#8220;My intention is to bring a capability in \u200cand quickly turn it into, for example, an entire European-sourced \u200bmissile. Built in Europe,&#8221; said Cahill, adding that he was \u200bin talks with several unnamed European countries.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->&#8220;That really \u200bbecomes Europe&#8217;s missile,&#8221; he said.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The Patriot system has become one of the world&#8217;s \u200cmost sought-after air-defense weapons since Russia&#8217;s 2022 full-scale \u200binvasion of Ukraine. Kyiv \u200bcredits Patriot batteries with helping defend cities against Russian ballistic missile attacks, while Ukraine&#8217;s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly appealed for more launchers and interceptors as Moscow intensifies air strikes.<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Joe Brock FARNBOROUGH, England, July 20 (Reuters) &#8211; Lockheed Martin announced a lower-cost Patriot interceptor on Monday as U.S. and European governments seek more affordable ways to counter the mass \u200cmissile and drone attacks that have become a defining feature of the wars in Ukraine \u200cand the Middle East. Lockheed said its new PAC-3&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/4A8FB2BA3624FA3DA8981E317A2FC3500D3AD4B88987003CB1A7A5791C9AABB9\/subgraphmysterio\/resizefill_w1200_h776;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Freuters.com%2F6c523fe3d8cb3dd0a78087af0243ff4f","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}