HUNTSVILLE – The Rocket City continues to live up to its moniker with the latest announcement from Lockheed Martin and the Department of Defense.

The Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $756 million contract to deliver additional support equipment for a ground-based hypersonic weapon system, the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, the contractor announced.  

The Department of Defense said the work will occur at Lockheed’s facility in Huntsville through Feb. 28, 2028.

“Lockheed Martin is proud to continue our strong partnership with the U.S. government for hypersonic strike capability,” said Steve Layne, vice president of Hypersonic Strike Weapon Systems at Lockheed Martin. “With this contract, we will support the U.S. Army to sustain the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon System currently in the hands of U.S. soldiers, produce additional batteries for future fielding, and support flight testing.” 

Under the new contract, Lockheed Martin will provide additional LRHW battery equipment, systems and software engineering support, and logistics solutions to the Army. 

Lockheed said the LRHW will introduce a new class of ultrafast and maneuverable long-range hypersonic missiles with the ability to launch from ground mobile platforms. The LRHW weapon system is designed to launch the common hypersonic All Up Round (AUR) – provided by the Navy-managed Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) program – and includes the Army canister, a battery operations center, and transporter erector launchers. 

Lockheed Martin delivered equipment for the first LRHW battery, referred to as Dark Eagle, to U.S. soldiers in 2021. The company will continue to support the Army to meet this critical national security need.