Lockheed Offers Hypersonic Defense Option With PAC-3 For U.S. Navy

Lockheed Martin plans to enhance the U.S. Navy’s air and missile defense capabilities by integrating its PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) into the Aegis Combat System under a roughly $200 million Navy contract. The upgrade will allow PAC-3 missiles to be launched from the Mk 41 vertical launch system on Navy ships, giving the fleet an additional option to intercept aircraft, cruise missiles, and potentially maneuvering hypersonic threats. This would complement the Navy’s current primary ship defense missile, the SM-6 missile, which is currently the only deployed system designed to counter hypersonic glide vehicles at sea. Lockheed says the PAC-3 MSE—already proven in ground-based combat use, including against fast-moving threats in Ukraine—could be adapted for a “sea-based terminal” defense role. However, this capability still needs to be fully tested and validated with the Navy. At the same time, the U.S. and Japan are developing next-generation defenses like the Glide Phase Interceptor, expected in the 2030s, to improve hypersonic threat interception earlier in flight. The program also reflects major expansion in missile production. Lockheed has already doubled PAC-3 output in recent years to over 600 interceptors annually, with plans to reach around 2,000 per year by 2030 to meet rising global demand. Overall, the effort aims to strengthen layered naval missile defense as hypersonic threats become more advanced and harder to intercept.