What we know about Lockheed's new Patriot missile
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An artist's depiction of the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector, or ACE. Photo: Courtesy of Lockheed Martin
LONDON — Lockheed Martin this month introduced the world to the newest Patriot missile, the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector. It's caused quite the stir on both sides of the Atlantic.
Why it matters: 2026 is the year of the air defender and their air defenses, with militaries expending pricey countermeasures en masse and governments scrambling to procure many more.
- Drones, missiles and decoys are saturating the skies everywhere from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan.
Driving the news: Axios sat down with Jason Reynolds, a Lockheed air-and-missile-defense executive, at the Farnborough International Airshow to discuss the interceptor and what comes next.
- "Everything is basically predicated around speed and cost, with drawing down slightly on the capability," he said.
- "People trust our products to work, and they know they can get lots of them from us," he added. "I think there is going to be a high demand for air-defense interceptors for a significant period of time."
Here's everything we learned at the show — or have since gleaned — about PAC-3 ACE:
First flight is expected in early 2028. Ramped-up production, using separate lines, would follow. International manufacturing is under consideration.
It will have the same outer mold line as the high-end PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement, will fit in the same canister and will work in 12-packs on the M903 launcher.
It will have a new seeker, with the maker as of last week still to be determined. (Boeing today builds PAC-3 seekers in Huntsville, Alabama.)
It's designed to take out ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft. There will be range and sophistication sacrifices given the price.
Advertised at less than half the price of a PAC-3 MSE, it could cost somewhere around $2 million a pop.
The concept was fleshed out in just weeks. It has already garnered the attention of the U.S. Army and potential foreign buyers.
What they're saying: "The regular PAC-3 MSE missile has been optimized for capability and reliability and a long shelf life — and the demand signal for it is massive," Tom Karako, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Axios.
- "The challenge, of course, is there are a lot of folks out there that'll just say, 'Well, I've got a cheap drone effector. Why don't you use me instead of a PAC-3?' And that's, really, a non sequitur."
Zoom out: The Pentagon on Monday said it struck agreements with L3Harris Technologies to greatly increase production of Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense propulsion systems.
Go deeper: X-Bow's new drone killer costs less than $100,000
