WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin will deliver hypersonic missiles to the Navy and Army that can be integrated with the Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyers under a $1.2 billion deal awarded Friday.
Lockheed Martin is the integrator for the hypersonic weapon program — which the Navy calls Conventional Prompt Strike and the Army calls Long Range Hypersonic Weapon. The two services leverage a common round, but put them in different launchers.
According to a company statement, the contract calls for Lockheed Martin to provide the Navy with launcher systems, weapon control, all-up rounds and integration work to link the missiles with the Zumwalt destroyers.
The Navy has already awarded HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding a contract to modify the first-in-class Zumwalt to support these missiles, which require launchers much larger than the typical Mk 41 vertical launching system on other surface ships. The shipyard expects to complete the modifications by the end of 2025, at which point the Navy would begin testing the integration between the ship and the weapon system.
The Navy will also field CPS on some Virginia-class attack submarines later this decade.
The Feb. 17 contract also covers additional rounds and cannisters for the Army, which plans to field the weapon system on truck-based launchers later this year. The contract would be worth more than $2.2 billion if all options are exercised.
“Lockheed Martin continues to advance hypersonic strike capability for the United States through this new contract,” Steve Layne, vice president of Hypersonic Strike Weapon Systems at Lockheed Martin, said in a Feb. 17 news release. “Early design work is already underway.”
The Defense Department announcement notes the contract also covers engineering development, systems integration, long lead material, and special tooling and equipment in support of missile production.
The Navy’s fiscal 2023 budget includes $1.2 billion for research and development for the Conventional Prompt Strike program, including additional money Congress appropriated to allow for additional flight tests.
Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. She has covered military news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. She has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest when she’s filing stories from a ship. Megan is a University of Maryland alumna.
