Lockheed snaps $1.1B deal to install hypersonic strike weapon on Zumwalt DDGs

Lockheed Martin has partnered with the U.S. Navy to integrate hypersonic strike capability onto surface ships – Zumwalt-class destroyers.

Under this contract, prime contractor Lockheed Martin will provide launcher systems, weapon control, All Up Rounds (AURs), which are the integrated missile components, and platform integration support for this naval platform.

The company, along with industry partners including subcontractors Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics Mission Systems, is on track to provide the CPS surface-launched, sea-based hypersonic strike capability to sailors by the mid-2020s. The contract also provides for additional AURs plus canisters for the U.S. Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW)  testing, training and tactical employment.

I can launch cPS shares a common AUR with the Army LRHW and from multiple platforms including surface ships, submarines, and land-based mobile launchers.

The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth more than $2 billion, if all options are exercised, to integrate the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) weapon system onto ZUMWALT-class guided missile destroyers (DDGs). CPS is a hypersonic boost-glide weapon system that enables long-range missile flight at speeds greater than Mach 5, with high survivability against enemy defenses.

“Lockheed Martin continues to advance hypersonic strike capability for the United States through this new contract,” said Steve Layne, vice president of Hypersonic Strike Weapon Systems at Lockheed Martin.

“Early design work is already underway. Our team looks forward to supporting the warfighter by providing more options to further protect America at sea.”