Lockheed Wins Order to Build Joint Missile

Lockheed Martin Corp. said Wednesday that it won an order to develop and build a missile for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, a program the company estimates could be worth as much as $5.5 billion over 20 years.

Lockheed beat Boeing Co. and Raytheon Co. in the competition initially worth up to $1.6 billion to develop the Joint Common Missile. The order also covers the first two production batches, or as many as 2,700 of a possible 55,000 missiles, the Army said.

“This is a big program that will last a long time,” said John Pike, an analyst at research group Globalsecurity.org. “It certainly deprives Raytheon of one segment of the business they have been in since the shooting stopped in Korea half a century ago.”

The U.S. military wants to cut costs by fielding a common missile. The new 70-inch missiles would be launched from Army helicopters, Navy fighter planes and unmanned spy planes, and would replace Raytheon’s Maverick and Lockheed’s Hellfire missiles. Unlike the old missiles, the new ones won’t have to be guided by pilots after launch.

“We’re very disappointed,” Raytheon spokeswoman Barbara Starr said. “We believe our proposal provided the lowest risk and lowest cost.”

Boeing spokesman Robert Algarotti did not immediately comment.

Lockheed’s Missiles and Fire Control unit will handle about 60% of the work at its facility in Troy, Ala., and the remainder in Orlando, Fla., the statement said. Lockheed shares rose 43 cents to $48.30 on the New York Stock Exchange.