Lockheed Martin to Continue Maintenance for UAE’s THAAD Missile Defense System
Lockheed Martin has received a $142.6-million contract to extend sustainment services for two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Batteries in the UAE.
The deal, placed under an existing foreign military sale case, increases the project’s value to $876.7 million.
The agreement covers logistics, training, missile and ground works, hardware and software development, engineering, and surveillance.
Lockheed will facilitate the order in the UAE, with supporting tasks being performed across California, Texas, Arkansas, and Alabama.
The contract will run until August 2028, with milestones coordinated with the US Missile Defense Agency.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Capability
THAAD is a mobile air defense system that deflects and neutralizes ballistic short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their terminal phase or re-entry into the atmosphere after firing.
The weapon, designed during the late 1990s, utilizes a single-stage kinetic warhead instead of traditional explosives to counter threats.
The interceptor measures 20 feet (6 meters) in length and weighs 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms). It has a range of 120 miles (193 kilometers), an operational trajectory of about 93 miles (150 kilometers), and a speed of Mach 8.2 (6,292 miles/10,125 kilometers per hour).
In December 2025, Abu Dhabi marked its 10th anniversary of adopting the THAAD system as well as the weapon’s first US export sale to an international partner.
Five months earlier, the Missile Defense Agency awarded Lockheed a $2-billion contract to produce interceptors for the Middle Eastern country’s THAADs.
