Missile Defense Agency awards Lockheed Martin contract to build missile defense targets

The Missile Defense Agency recently awarded Lockheed Martin an $80.6 million fixed-price contract for modified ballistic re-entry vehicles and separation modules for missile defense tests.

Lockheed Martin will develop and produce unarmed re-entry vehicles for integration into target missiles through 2022. The contract also includes options for additional modified re-entry vehicles and mission support.

“The re-entry vehicle is essentially the bullseye for an interceptor missile, and it is also one of the most complex parts of the target,” Sarah Reeves, vice president of Missile Defense Programs at Lockheed Martin Space, said. “In today’s environment, it’s incredibly important to test against threat-representative targets that look like enemy missiles, and we are proud to continue to provide that capability to the Missile Defense Agency.”

Lockheed Martin will design and produce the vehicles in Huntsville, Alabama. Subcontractors include Huntsville companies Dynetics, Inc., which will provide aeroshell structures, and Battelle, which will provide the hit detection system.

Rather than carry warheads, modified ballistic re-entry vehicles carry sensors to measure the accuracy and effectiveness of the target, interceptor, and missile defense system.

Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 50 threat-representative missile targets and 36 modified ballistic re-entry vehicles to the Missile Defense Agency since 1996.