Lockheed Martin Corp has received a $1.96bn contract from the Pentagon to supply the UAE with a missile defence system.
The order is for two Terminal High Altitude Area Defence or Thaad systems that include interceptors, launchers and radar, the Pentagon said in an announcement.
The interceptors are a centrepiece of the regional defence that President Barack Obama’s administration plans to deploy in the Middle East against Iran’s medium-and long-range ballistic missiles.
Batteries of land-based interceptors would be linked with the US Navy’s detection and control systems on Aegis-class destroyers and cruisers.
The UAE is the first international buyer for the Thaad system. When the sale was first proposed for congressional approval in September 2008, the Pentagon said the deal would be valued at as much as $6.95bn if all options were exercised. In August 2010, the UAE scaled back its programme by about one-third to 96 interceptors from 144.
The interceptors are produced in Troy, Alabama, and the fire control equipment and launchers are made in Camden, Arkansas. Lockheed Martin is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Raytheon Co, of Waltham, Massachusetts, provides the radar, and Honeywell Inc, of Morris Township, New Jersey, makes the missile’s mission computer.
Aerojet, part of GenCorp Inc, based in Rancho Cordova, California, makes the Thaad rocket motor. The US subsidiary of the UK’s BAE Systems Plc produces the missile seeker.
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