NATO signs up for Patriot's replacement

An international group led by Lockheed Martin Corp has won a 
$3 billion contract with NATO to develop a successor to the 
Patriot missile system. The Medium Extended Air Defense System 
(MEADS) is designed to be wheeled onto the battlefield by 
soldiers to shoot down jet fighters, drones and some ballistic 
missiles.

Lockheed commenced work on the program in 1999. The Pentagon is 
developing the system with Germany and Italy, which are 
contributing 25 percent and 17 percent, respectively, to its 
cost. The United States is expected to order 48 of the systems, 
while Germany is expected to buy 25 and Italy 9. France was part 
of the original program, but dropped out.

The contract was issued by a NATO unit, NATO Medium Extended Air 
Defense System Organization, which was created to manage the 
international program.

The Patriot was designed in the 1960s and 1970s to fight the 
Soviet Union and is now seen as too heavy to quickly traverse the 
battlefield, said Jim Cravens, president of Lockheed's team, 
known as MEADS International. The Patriot system is based on 
software that cannot be quickly linked with other weapon systems, 
he said.

The development phase of the program is worth US$3 billion. When 
the company begins manufacturing the system and selling it to 
other countries the program's value is expected to more than 
double, Cravens said. "This looks to be a very, very robust 
program", he said.

It is expected that MEADS will become operational in the US in 
2014. The other members of MEADS International are MBDA-Italia, 
the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. and 
Lenkflugkorpersysteme in Germany.