By Mike Stone and Gerry Doyle
WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Fearing that China will use hypersonic weapons to sink ships in the Pacific, the U.S. Navy is moving forward with a plan to arm some of its ships with Patriot interceptor missiles, they said two senior defense officials.
An industry official said the placing of the highly maneuverable Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) interceptors, used primarily in the US by the military, aboard Navy ships anticipates advances in the Chinese missile technology, including the use of highly maneuverable hypersonic missiles. weapons.
The integration of the Lockheed Martin-made missiles with ship air defenses comes amid simmering tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, as China rapidly modernizes its military, and in the wake of successful missile defense efforts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
How many PAC-3 interceptors the Navy will need is uncertain, but overall demand is “through the roof,” said Tom Karako, a missile defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
He said there was strong interest from foreign governments and added that the U.S. military wants to more than double production in the coming years.
The US has identified Japan, a key ally, as a site for joint production of Patriot missiles, and Lockheed Martin wants to set up a new production line for the missile seekers in Florida, industry sources told Reuters.
That factory would complement Boeing's production efforts, and Lockheed Martin is presenting the benefits of additional production to the US military, which must sign off on it.
The PAC-3 has already shot down maneuvering hypersonic missiles in Ukraine. The Navy believes it can add another high-probability layer to its anti-missile systems, which have not yet been tested against such weapons.
The Navy told Reuters: “More testing is needed in the development roadmap, including launching the PAC-3 MSE from a ship and validating communications with the SPY-1 radar,” the main sensor in the Aegis missile system.
That follows efforts by the U.S. military that have already produced new weapons and new strategies in the Indo-Pacific aimed at deterring Beijing from conflict, or winning one if one arises.
Beijing's most advanced anti-ship ballistic missile, the DF-27, which uses a hypersonic glide vehicle to maneuver to its target, was tested in 2023. The Pentagon's Chinese military report that year said the weapon was “under development.”
The PAC-3 has a shorter range than the Navy's SM-6 missiles and cannot reach into space.
But sending missiles close to the nose makes it more agile, and destroying the threat is more likely because of the “hit to kill” concept, in which the interceptor hits the target rather than exploding close to it, said a missile defense program director with direct access. knowledge of the Aegis system.
Facing advanced Chinese weapons, including hypersonic warheads from hover vehicles, these qualities “very well complement the existing missiles on a US ship” by making it easier to hit at high speed, maneuver and destroy ballistic missiles, the program director said .
Like industry and defense officials, he declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
GROWING THREAT
A PAC-3 interceptor of a Patriot missile system, used primarily by the US military and allied countries for land air defense, was tested in May on a “virtual Aegis ship” using a Mk. 70 vertical launcher, but has not been deployed on naval vessels.
Over the past year, however, it has intercepted numerous ballistic threats and aircraft in the Middle East and Ukraine, including Russia's advanced Khinzal missiles, making it an attractive addition to Navy magazines, defense officials and people familiar with the matter said.
The PAC-3 round is also much smaller than an SM-6 or SM-3, weighing approximately 300 kg (660 lbs), compared to 1,500 kg for the SM-6, and having a diameter of approximately 9 cm (3. 5 inches). .
The cost per rocket varies depending on the customer and the deal, but both are estimated to be around $4 million each.
China has already developed a formidable arsenal of anti-ship ballistic missiles, including the DF-21D “carrier killer” and anti-ship warheads for its DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
The DF-27, which the Pentagon says could range as far as 8,000 km (5,000 miles), appears to use an aerodynamic warhead that can maneuver to avoid defenses or more easily hit a moving target, Tim Wright of the Missile Defense Initiative Team told the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Gerry Doyle in Singapore; Editing by David Gregorio and Clarence Fernandez)
