Lockheed Martin finishes delivering final components of the 1st THADD battery to U.S. Army

DALLAS, Texas, 10 March, 2012. Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] has completed delivery of all hardware and components associated with the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system’s first U.S. Army Battery. In December, THAAD delivered its 24th interceptor, completing the first THAAD Battery (A-4 ADA). Two THAAD batteries have been activated at Fort Bliss, Texas. The first THAAD Battery (A-4 ADA Battery) was activated in May 2008. The second THAAD Battery (A-2 ADA Battery) was activated in October 2009. The Army anticipates activating a third Battery in late 2012. Since 2005, the THAAD program has completed 12 flight tests, with nine-for-nine intercepts. The latest mission was an operational test conducted at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, by THAAD soldiers from Alpha-4 (A-4), 11th Air Defense Artillery Imperial Brigade of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command. During that mission, two THAAD interceptors destroyed two different targets. THAAD is a missile defense system that can intercept in both the endo- and exo-atmospheres. An element of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), THAAD is a Missile Defense Agency program, with the program office located in Huntsville, Ala.