OREANDA-NEWS. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has received a $161 million production contract for the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile for the U.S. Army. The missiles will be produced at Lockheed Martin's Precision Fires Production Center of Excellence in Camden, Arkansas.

The contract calls for the production of 150 ATACMS missiles as part of the ATACMS Service Life Extension Program.

"The ATACMS Service Life Extension Program takes existing missiles and refurbishes them, resetting their shelf life," said Scott Greene, vice president of Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "ATACMS provides the combatant commanders with critical, deep-strike capability to service high-value targets in all weather conditions."

As part of the U.S. Army's ATACMS Service Life Extension Program, the modernization process disassembles and demilitarizes ATACMS Block 1 and 1A warheads, replacing them with new unitary warheads. The process also resets the missile's 10+ year shelf life.

ATACMS is the U.S. Army's only tactical long-range precision strike surface-to-surface weapon system. ATACMS missiles can be fired from the entire family of Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) launchers. This is the first production contract for Modernized ATACMS missiles for the U.S. Army.

Lockheed Martin has produced more than 3,800 ATACMS missiles. More than 600 ATACMS have been fired in combat, and the system has demonstrated extremely high rates of accuracy and reliability while in theater. Each ATACMS missile is packaged in a Guided Missile Launch Assembly pod, and is fired from the MLRS family of launchers.