Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $142.6 million contract modification to continue sustainment support for the United Arab Emirates’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) framework. The award reinforces Washington’s ongoing commitment to strengthening integrated missile defense capabilities among Gulf partners facing persistent ballistic and cruise missile threats.
The modification raises the total value of the long-term THAAD sustainment contract to $876.7 million and reflects deepening U.S.–UAE defense cooperation amid an increasingly complex regional threat environment. Executed through Lockheed Martin Space, the agreement ensures continued operational readiness of the Emirates’ two deployed THAAD batteries, a cornerstone of the country’s layered air and missile defense architecture.
Scope of work includes logistics and training support, hardware and software upgrades, repair and return of missile and ground systems, field surveillance, and specialized engineering services tailored to local operating conditions. Activities will be carried out at multiple U.S. facilities—Sunnyvale, California; Grand Prairie, Texas; and Camden, Arkansas—as well as at operational sites within the UAE. The performance period runs from January 2026 through August 2028.
THAAD provides upper-tier defense against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles using hit-to-kill intercept technology, complementing lower-tier systems such as Patriot. In the Gulf context, the system plays a critical role in countering Iranian missile capabilities and supports a tightly integrated defense grid coordinated with U.S. Central Command.
The sole-source award reflects Lockheed Martin’s exclusive role as the THAAD prime contractor and the absence of alternative providers with comparable system knowledge and sustainment expertise. Defense officials view continued THAAD support in the UAE as both a strategic deterrent and a tangible signal of long-term U.S. security partnership in the region.
