Integrating to Win: Sending PAC-3® Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) to Sea

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November 05, 2026

The US Navy recently awarded Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 MSE Navy program a phase II contract to continue development and integration with the Aegis Combat System.

The U.S. Navy is bringing the PAC-3® Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) to sea. In late Sept., Lockheed Martin received the phase II contract to continue development and integration work for the PAC-3 MSE Navy program. This contract builds on the previous $93M contract Lockheed Martin received to officially make PAC-3 MSE a Navy program of record.

This contract represents the Navy’s continued commitment to advanced maritime IAMD capability, and the beginning of the second phase of development.

Both contract awards are the result of a collaborative effort between Lockheed Martin and the Navy to identify and develop solutions to meet the Navy's emerging needs. Lockheed Martin proactively invested $120 million into hardware and software adjustments to seamlessly integrate PAC-3 MSE, Aegis and the MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS).

“The phase II contract signifies the continuation of our close, collaborative relationship with the U.S. Navy,” said Jason Reynolds, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD). “Adding PAC-3 MSE to the Navy’s IAMD architecture delivers a dynamic, combat-proven capability that protects against emerging and evolving threats in a complex naval threat environment.”

Optimizing for the Sea

In an increasingly complex and evolving threat landscape, integrating the PAC-3 MSE into the Aegis Combat System delivers a combat-proven missile interceptor with growing capacity to U.S. sailors.

Bringing proven systems together into an integrated solution is no easy task.

“We self-funded $120M into internal research and development on this effort because we saw a need to deliver an innovative, integrated solution to meet Navy air and missile defense needs,” said Reynolds. “We’re committed to the Navy’s mission and delivering the next-generation of game-changing missile defense solutions”

The continued development showcases Lockheed Martin’s commitment to rapidly completing the engineering work the team started on internal investment to accelerate system integration.

The team is developing a modern, flexible approach to the data-link architecture to support future upgrades, designing a new data link featuring S-band and X-band capability, redesigning the missile’s launch sequence timing software, developing new containerized fire controls software, and building a new canister compatible with both the MK 41 VLS and the PAC-3 MSE missile.

“Taking PAC-3 MSE to sea requires our team to redesign several pieces of hardware and software to ensure we’re answering the specific needs of the Navy,” said Jason Bair, chief engineer, Lockheed Martin PAC-3 MSE Navy. “We’re building this program with growth and future developments in mind so we can continue to evolve with new threats.”

Pioneering the Next Generation of IAMD

The PAC-3 MSE Navy variant will continue to feature all of PAC-3 MSE’s maneuverability, reliability and advanced capability. This variant will be produced alongside Army variants at Lockheed Martin’s All-Up Round III facility in Camden, Arkansas.

The PAC-3 MSE family of missiles are combat-proven Hit-to-Kill interceptors that defend against modern and emerging threats, including tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aircraft and hypersonic missiles.

Development Timeline

Lockheed Martin has celebrated several testing milestones in the development process for PAC-3 MSE Navy. Recently, the team executed a push-through test with a PAC-3 MSE interceptor and the MK 41 VLS. This test ensured the missile can launch through the MK 41 VLS canister without incurring any damage, one of the first major development milestones under the Navy contract.

In 2024, Lockheed Martin and several offices of the DoW successfully launched a PAC-3 MSE out of a MK 70 VLS while integrated with a virtual Aegis Weapon System. This marked the first time a PAC-3 MSE was shot vertically while integrated with Aegis.

More firsts for this program are coming. Lockheed Martin and the Navy will continue development leading up to a land-based flight test in 2027 and ship-based flight testing in 2028 to validate the integration prior to fielding.

The company is working closely with the Navy to field the integration by 2029 and deliver an advanced, combat-proven capability with growing capacity to the evolving fleet.

PAC-3 MSE features flexible integration capabilities with advanced IAMD systems to counter evolving threats.

A Climbing Demand

Demand for PAC-3 MSE is at an all-time high. On July 29, the US Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $58B contract to continue critical acceleration production of PAC-3 MSE. This contract builds on the framework agreement Lockheed Martin signed with the U.S. DoW to accelerate PAC-3 MSE production and triple capacity to meet the demand from the Army, Navy and partner nations.

Lockheed Martin is also working with the Army on a list of PAC-3 MSE Acceleration Enablers, which includes specific actions underway to support the high-level strategy and production ramp, even down to the way suppliers produce and deliver PAC-3 MSE components.  

PAC-3 has consistently increased production rates on PAC-3 MSE since full-rate production began in 2018.