Lockheed Martin gets 4.6-billion-dollar missile defense contract

WASHINGTON (AFP) Dec 10, 2003
Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Tuesday was awarded a contract potentially worth 4.6 billion dollars to develop targets and countermeasures for the Pentagon's missile defense program, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

The targets and countermeasures will be used to test the gamut of missile defense systems under development, the Pentagon said.

Some experts have criticized the Pentagon for moving to develop and field a missile defense system against long range missiles without testing it against realistic targets with more than one decoy.

Lockheed Martin said it will develop targets that represent the evolving missile threat faced by the United States.

"These target systems will enable the US to realistically, reliably and affordably test the full range of ballistic missile defense systems under development," it said in a statement.

The contract was for 210 million dollars for engineering, design and management of the program over the next four years.

But it has a potential value of 4.6 billion dollars over the next 10 years if all options are exercised, the Pentagon said.

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