Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE: LMT) rotary and mission systems unit has won a potential $642.9 million contract to manufacture Vertical Launching System hardware for the U.S. Navy and foreign military customers.
The company was granted a base firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee award valued at $194 million to supply customers with MK 41 VLS modules and ancillary hardware, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.
Seventy-one percent of purchases are for the Navy, 18 percent for Canada and the remaining 11 percent are for Australia.
MK 41 VLS is deployed in 13 configurations with modules ranging from a single, eight-cell unit, to a 16-module, 166-cell array. The system is installed below deck of Naval surface combatants, and designed to be integrated with weapons such as the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, and Standard Missiles 2, 3, and 6.
The base contract will support VLS production requirements for fiscal year 2022 through fiscal 2027. Work could extend through July 2030 if all options are exercised.
Funds will be sourced from the Navy’s shipbuilding and conversion budget for FY 2021, 2022, and 2023. Other sources are the foreign military sales from Canada and Australia, valued at $34 million and $22 million, respectively.
The contracting activity is Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C.
