Lockheed to Study Putting PAC-3s on Fighter Jets

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin is expected to receive a $3 million contract within the next few days to study whether Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles can be placed on U.S. F-15C fighter jets, Inside Missile Defense reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 30, 2006).

A fighter equipped with PAC-3 missiles could bring down cruise missiles or ballistic missiles in their boost phase, according to Lockheed Martin and the Missile Defense Agency.

“If a Scud was launched from a barge or if a cruise missile was launched outside territorial waters attacking the United States, obviously if you had an F-15 up and it had a PAC-3 on it you could do long-range cruise missile defense or [tactical ballistic missile] defense,” said Mike Trotsky, vice president of the company’s Air and Missile Defense programs.

The F-15s could be used in routine air patrols or be scrambled when necessary, Trotsky said (Ashley Roque, Inside Missile Defense, Jan. 10).

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