Lockheed Martin to Upgrade Aegis Weapon System with Air and Missile Defense Capabilities

Lockheed Martin will upgrade the Aegis Weapon System (AWS) with integrated air and missile defense capabilities following a $528 million contract award on December 28 by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

Current Aegis Weapon System capabilities are highlighted as anti-missile. The upgraded AWS will be called as ‘Aegis Guam System’ and stationed at Guam in the Pacific. Media reports say that the integrated air and missile defense capabilities of the Aegis Guam System are intended to counter Chinese threats to the Guam air base.

The work on the project will be carried out over the next five years in Moorestown, New Jersey, with a scheduled completion date of December 31, 2027.

North Korea’s Hwasong-12 and Chinese DF-26 ballistic missiles have both been dubbed “Guam Killer” weapons.

Guam Island, home to two of U.S. military’s most crucial facilities in the Pacific –namely Andersen Air Force Base and Guam Naval Base – is the Theater High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) system missile launcher on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. THAAD can only deal with “ballistic-arching trajectory” missile threats in the “heavyweight category” and cannot defend against smaller enemy warplanes, sea-skimming cruise missiles, and small UAVs.

Defending against hostile aircraft requires a layered air defense approach that involves other assets in the U.S. military’s arsenal, such as Patriot and Iron Dome, allied warplanes firing air-to-air missiles, Army Stinger missile and laser Short-range Air Defense (SHORAD) systems, and warships equipped with the AEGIS combat radar system and Standard missiles.