The Department of War, working alongside L3Harris and Lockheed Martin, has announced two landmark seven-year framework agreements aimed at expanding manufacturing capacity for key propulsion components used in the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system.
Michael P. Duffey, Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, described the agreements as a decisive step forward for the Warfighter, tying the effort directly to the Department's broader push to scale up production of critical munitions with speed and precision. He said the deals send a clear, stable demand signal to suppliers across the defense industrial base, reinforcing the Department's commitment to rebuilding what officials have branded the Arsenal of Freedom.
Under the first agreement, L3Harris will ramp up production of its advanced two-pulse solid rocket motor, along with Attitude Control Motors and a component known as the Lethality Enhancer. These parts are essential to giving the PAC-3 MSE interceptor the speed, extended range, and precise in-flight maneuverability it needs to defeat advanced threats, including tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and enemy aircraft.
The second agreement focuses specifically on THAAD interceptor propulsion, and was signed jointly by the Department of War, L3Harris, and Lockheed Martin. This deal will expand manufacturing of two critical components: the solid rocket boost motor responsible for launching the interceptor, and the Liquid Divert and Attitude Control System (LDACS).
The LDACS plays a particularly important role in THAAD's effectiveness, providing the highly responsive in-flight maneuverability needed to engage and destroy ballistic missile threats both inside and outside Earth's atmosphere.
These new agreements don't stand alone — they build directly on a series of earlier PAC-3 MSE framework agreements already in place with prime contractor Lockheed Martin, seeker manufacturer Boeing, and multi-component supplier Honeywell. Together, these deals reflect a coordinated, multi-supplier strategy aimed at strengthening every link in the missile defense production chain, rather than relying on a single contractor to manage the entire supply chain independently.
Officials say these agreements are a direct product of the Department's Acquisition Transformation Strategy, a policy shift designed to cut through bureaucratic delays and allow the Department to engage directly with suppliers at every tier of the industrial base, rather than working exclusively through prime contractors.
This strategy is described as a cornerstone of the Department's broader effort to place the U.S. defense acquisition system on what officials are calling a wartime footing.
By giving industry partners clear, long-term demand signals stretching seven years into the future, the Department aims to encourage suppliers to invest confidently in new tooling, expanded facilities, and larger workforces — investments companies are typically reluctant to make without assurance that demand will remain steady.
Officials frame this approach as essential to building a more robust, resilient, and responsive defense industrial base, one capable of consistently outpacing potential adversaries in production capacity and speed.
Taken together, the two agreements reflect a broader, sustained push across the Department of War to close persistent bottlenecks in missile defense production. As global demand for PAC-3 and THAAD interceptors continues to grow — driven by both U.S. requirements and allied nations seeking to strengthen their own missile defense capabilities — officials suggest that agreements like these, targeting specific propulsion components deep in the supply chain, will remain a key part of how the Department works to keep pace with rising demand in the years ahead.
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